


Never Hungover Again

by bagelbitch666



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Marijuana, Mutual Pining, Past Aang/Katara (Avatar), Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Slow Burn, Songfic, if you don't want to read about the stoner gaang then u won't like this, lots of pot references sorry lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26401054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bagelbitch666/pseuds/bagelbitch666
Summary: Zuko arrives home from his first year of college eager to reconnect with his high school friends for the summer. However, he dreads having to hang out with Katara, who despises him. When the group forces them to work out their issues, they find that they actually don’t really mind each other that much.  Told through Zuko’s POV, set to Joyce Manor's album Never Hungover Again.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong, Haru/Ty Lee (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 58





	1. Heated Swimming Pool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note 11/11/20: I just reworked the first few chapters so if you want to reread please do!

**Heated Swimming Pool**

_“But you were clever_

_Always forever in command_

_It's my house my rules my_

_Heated swimming pool_

_And I don't even have to wait for_

_You to open up their cages_

_Cause I can see them in the Ivy_

_And I can tell that they don't like me”_

As he walked into his Uncle’s house, smelling the familiar scent of his favorite jasmine tea, Zuko had never felt more like he had come home. His first year of college had been fun, but he found himself missing the smell of his Uncle’s signature tea more and more often. The small break between the fall and spring semesters had been too short and he was more than excited to have the whole summer to be with the people he loved the most. His uncle, cousin, his mother and especially his friends. They had been keeping in touch, of course, but it was much different to actually be with them in person. He was the last one to return from school and he couldn’t wait to see them.

Well, everyone but Katara. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing her again, though he knew he’d have to deal with her anyway. He figured that he could look past her icy stares and ignore her insults if he got to be around all of the people he cared about. 

He wandered into the kitchen following the scent of the calming tea, forgetting about Katara. His uncle stood at the stove pouring out three cups, his cousin Lu Ten sitting at the table behind him. His uncle turned to him pulling him into a warm hug.

“Hello, Uncle.” he said, almost being crushed under the pull of Iroh’s arms. He hugged him back almost as tightly.

“Welcome back, Nephew. We’ve missed you.” he felt the vibrations of his Uncle’s deep voice in his shoulder. He was released for just a few seconds before Lu Ten threw his arms around him as well. His hug was much shorter, though.

“It’s good to see you, Zuko.” The older man clapped him on the shoulder and grabbed a cup of tea.

“It’s good to be home.” Zuko replied, taking his own cup. “Uncle, how is mom doing?”

He watched the man’s face grow somber, “Better than usual. She has been looking forward to your visits.”

“I have been, too.”

“Well, as much as I’d love to catch up with you, I know you’re eager to meet up with your friends. We can talk later.” His uncle smiled warmly at him and he really was glad to be back. Comfort was not something he had had much of in his childhood, but being with his uncle was always where he felt the most love.

\---

Unfortunately, everyone would be meeting up at Sokka’s house. This would be fine if Katara didn’t live there, too. They almost all hung out there though, with their father constantly out of town on business and their Gran Gran not around as much as she used to be, they were free to frequent the house whenever they wanted.

He picked up Mai and Ty Lee on his way. The two girls piling into his beat up sedan, Mai taking the passenger seat and Ty Lee sitting in the back. 

Mai stayed silent, preferring to nod her hello, while Ty Lee wrapped her arms around the driver’s seat to hug him, already chattering on, “Oh, Zuko, it’s so good to see you! How is college? It must be so fun. I want to know everything, you have to tell us!”

“Hey, Ty Lee. There’s really not much to-” he glanced back at her in the rear view mirror, watching her shift to the middle seat to insert herself closer to him and Mai. 

“Oh it’s okay we have plenty of time to talk! School has been so lonely without you Sokka, Suki, and Haru. I’ve definitely missed Haru the most but don’t tell him I said that!” Mai rolled her eyes as Ty Lee droned on. Zuko was thankful that she was acting normally.

He had worried that their breakup would have disrupted their friendship but by the time it happened almost a year ago, it was mutual. He supposed he was lucky that their relationship had pretty much gone back to normal. Mai was still herself around him and it made car rides like these more bearable. Especially when Ty Lee forced herself to fill any open silence. 

“I’m glad you’re back.” Mai said in her usual monotone, ignoring Ty Lee who was still going on about Haru. 

Zuko smiled, “it’s good to be back.”

“I wonder if Haru will already be there when we get there? Oh I’m so excited to see him!” Ty Lee went on ignoring their separate conversation. 

“Have you talked to Azula lately? She asked me about you the other day.” Mai asked quietly, despite Ty Lee’s obvious distraction. 

His grip on the steering wheel tightened and he tried hard to keep his voice even. “No. I haven’t spoken to her since the last time she tried to get me to visit dad’s. Honestly, I don’t really want to talk to her.”

“I get it. She misses you though. She’ll never say it but she does.”

Zuko resisted the urge to raise his voice, “Until she stops idolizing that  _ monster _ , I’m not talking to her. I can’t handle it.”

Mai frowned, “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“It’s okay.” He muttered, turning his focus back to Ty Lee who hadn’t missed a beat. “How was visiting Suki at Kyoshi?”

This perked her up even more if that was humanly possible, “It was awesome! I decided to go there instead of Caldera. All of her sorority sisters are so nice! I really want to join. She told me that they can’t let first semester freshmen pledge, but I can still hang out with them. Plus Sokka goes there too so I can hang out with him!”

Mai rolled her eyes, “She has not shut up about Kyoshi since. If I have to hear one more thing about greek life I’m going to vomit.” 

Zuko smiled, “Greek life isn’t that bad. They throw the best parties. I wouldn’t join myself but at least at Ba Sing Se they do a lot of community service.”

“Yeah in between shots and keg stands?” Mai joked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Actually, there’s not as many keg stands as you’d think. I’ve never done one.”

Ty Lee giggled from the back seat, “That’s because you’re not cool enough, Zuko.”

He glared at her through the rear view mirror. He’d been to more college parties than she had. Who was Ty Lee to say he wasn’t cool? These were the times that he missed his sister or at least the memory of her before their parents divorced. At least if she had been there his friends, who were really always more hers than his, would be distracted by her commanding presence. He wouldn’t have to make small talk with his ex girlfriend and her bubbly friend.

“She’s right, you know. You’re no frat boy.” 

“Whatever.” He muttered, deciding to focus on driving instead, letting Ty Lee continue rambling.

—-

  
  


The group was out back when they arrived, gathered around the pool. It was another typical hangout at Sokka and Katara’s, both of the siblings already in the heated pool, splashing at the rest to join them. Ty Lee immediately cartwheeled over to Haru wrapping him in a tighter hug than looked physically possible, and Mai sighed, plopping down next to Suki who sat with her feet in the pool near Sokka. They waved to him excitedly. Zuko smiled. It was great to finally be around people who cared. 

Toph and Aang sat in the shade at the edge of the pool talking animatedly until Aang noticed him. The boy stood, grabbing onto Toph’s arm to guide her over to Zuko. Before he could do much else, they were both wrapping him into a hug. 

“Sparky! I was wondering when you’d show up.” Toph said affectionately punching him in the arm. He couldn’t help but feel like it hurt more than usual.

“Hey guys. Nice to know your punches still hurt.” Zuko muttered, rubbing the tender spot on his arm.

Toph crossed her arms, “It’s supposed to hurt! The more it hurts the more I like you.”

“Yeah, yeah. At least this time you started with the hugging.”

Feeling like he was being stared at, he looked past Toph and Aang to see Katara glaring at him from the pool. Of course, his presence had already seemed to put her in a bad mood. Their rivalry had been a long one and he didn’t see her softening around him anytime soon. When he’d first joined the friend group his junior year, she had been a little standoffish, but nothing compared to the daggers of ice she was glaring into him right now. 

Just a short few months after he befriended Sokka and Haru, they’d been locked in a closet for seven minutes of heaven. Ever since then, they’d been mortal enemies. She was the one person in their group who didn’t like him and it bothered the living hell out of him. He felt himself narrow his eyes back at her and silently cursed himself for even acknowledging her. Zuko knew an insult was coming his way.

“So, rich boy, you here to ruin the party? I was having so much fun until you showed up.” she said splashing water at his feet. Sokka splashed water at her in turn and she made a face at him.

“It’s great to see you too, Katara. How’s your miserable attitude been treating you?” he quipped back, already annoyed.

She smirked, “It’s been great actually! I’ve been a lot less miserable these last few months because I didn’t have to see your stupid face every day.” He couldn’t help holding back a scoff.

“Yeah, trust me I felt the exact same way.”

Sokka dunked her head in the water and gave him a sympathetic look, “I swear I told her to be good today.” He let her up once she started smacking him, “Can you not be mean to Zuko for one night? You’re messing up the vibes, Katara.”

“It’s fine, nothing I’m not used to. Anyway, I brought the weed. Who wants to smoke?” he asked pulling a plastic baggie out of his backpack.

Sokka practically jumped out of the water, “Me! Definitely me.” He snatched the baggie right out of Zuko’s hand, heading to a table to pack a bong. 

Katara just glared at him from the water, the look on her face far from apologetic. Zuko rolled his eyes, turning to help Sokka.

“I’m sorry that she’s being like that. I wish she’d get over whatever stick she has up her ass about you.” the other boy muttered as he threw some buds in the grinder.

Zuko shrugged, “I can’t say it doesn’t bother me, but at this point it’s just normal. It’s kinda fun pissing her off, though.”

Sokka laughed, patting him on the back. “Eh, you’re not wrong. It’s probably just because it’s so easy.”

They both laughed at that, Sokka keeping his attention on the grinder, spinning it around in his hand. He watched Haru detach himself from Ty Lee’s grasp to join them. “Hey, bud. Good to see you.”

“How’s Ty Lee?” Zuko smirked.

“Don’t ask. She hasn’t left me alone since winter break. I’ve kind of been avoiding her to be completely honest.”

Sokka practically snorted, “Yeah, okay. If by avoiding you mean hooking up with her constantly.”

“Look, she’s great but you know her. It’s a lot. I can’t always handle it.” Haru plopped his head in his hands.

“I’ve known her since she was six.” Zuko said, taking the grinder from Sokka to pack the bowl, “She hasn’t changed a bit. You learn to just let her talk and ask questions every now and then. It’s always worked for me.”

“Okay but you’re not alone with her for hours on end. It gets… tiring.”

“Do you actually like her or do you just like making out with her?” Zuko asked. He couldn’t help thinking that maybe Haru’s calm demeanor might perfectly offset Ty Lee’s bubbly and erratic personality. The more he thought about it, he could see why the girl was so into him.

Haru sighed, “Of course I like her. I wouldn’t just hook up with her like that if there weren’t any feelings involved. It’d mess up the whole group dynamic if everything went to hell. You remember how awkward it was when Katara broke up with Aang.”

Sokka made a face, “Can we please not discuss my sister’s love life? Even if it’s non-existent I really don’t want to think about it.”

“I’d just prefer not to talk about Katara at all.” Zuko muttered, blissfully unaware that she was standing just a few feet away, wringing out her hair with a towel.

She marched up to the three, aiming for Zuko, “You guys realize that we’re all hanging out together, right? I can hear you from 3 feet away.”

Zuko took a hit from the bong, ignoring her, “Whatever, Haru. If you like her, you like her. If you can’t handle her, stop before you go too far.”

“Oh, so you’re just going to keep acting like I don’t exist?”

Sokka interrupted, “Katara-”

“If you didn’t notice, I prefer to ignore your presence in general.” Zuko shrugged, passing the bong to Haru, who took it, happy for the distraction from the imminent fight.

“I swear it’s like you only care about yourself. How can you act like everyone’s feelings don’t matter?” Her arms were folded tightly over her chest and her eyes were back to glaring daggers at him. Haru just handed the bong over to Sokka. He hit it, no longer wanting to be involved.

“Nope, I care about everyone else’s, just not yours.” Zuko’s confidence was inflated by the slight high he felt creeping into his head. He didn’t come here looking to argue with her, but she was making it way too easy. The rest of the group was looking over now, knowing that another huge blowout between them was about to start.

“Oh my god you’re incorrigible! You can’t just talk shit about me and expect me not to care.”

He was done. He stood, walking over to her on the other side of the table. “Incorrigible? What, are we using a thesaurus now? I get that you don’t like me, but not everything I say is an attack on you personally. Besides, I’m sure you talk plenty of shit about me when I’m not around to hear you!”

“Yeah, well if I do it’s because you deserve it!”

Sokka interjected, placing the bong back on the table, “Hey, Katara, chill out!”

“Yeah, cool it, Sugar Queen.” Toph shouted from the other side of the pool.

“Oh, I deserve it? I’ve never done anything to you and you insist on making me feel like an asshole!” They both inched closer to each other with every exchange, getting closer and closer to the edge of the pool. Katara advanced further, pushing him only a few inches away from the water. He held his stance, refusing to shy away from her. She had some sort of innate way of figuring out exactly how to piss him off and he couldn’t stand it.

He could tell that she was beyond reasoning with, too. “You deserve it because you are an asshole! I’m just the only one who sees that.”

“Katara, have you ever considered that maybe you’re the asshole? Maybe your fragile ego just can’t handle that.”

She responded by shoving him backwards into the pool and stomping away back into the house. Zuko surfaced, shoving his long hair out of his eyes. “Did she really just push me into the damn pool?”

Mai held her arm out to help him out, “I think so.” 

Suki stood next to her, looking to Sokka. “I think we need to do the thing.”

“What thing?” Zuko asked, wringing out his shirt.

“Yeah,” Sokka sighed, defeated, “It’s time.”

Zuko was even more confused now, “Time for what?”

“You go get your sister, I got this one.” Suki grabbed his arm leading him into the house, Sokka trailing behind them. He tried to resist, but Suki was surprisingly strong and managed to keep pulling him closer to the basement.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” And he was promptly shoved down the basement stairs, more aggressively than was probably necessary. 


	2. Catalina Fight Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had fun writing this one! I'm sorry if its super dialogue-heavy. I'm so used to screenwriting that I forget to add in details sometimes lmao. I hope you all enjoy :) Thanks for subscribing and commenting!  
> Note 11/11/20: I reworked this and chapter one so please go back and reread if you'd like!

**Catalina Fight Song**

_“There's no way to keep in touch with certain people_

_You wonder how long something can last_

_Pretty sure most people don't think about that_

_But who the fuck is laughing now?_

He stood there for a moment, just staring at Suki.

“What, you’re just going to throw me down here? What about Katara? She’s the one who pushed me in the fucking pool!”

Suki just stood there, arms crossed, “Oh, she’s coming, too. You guys are going to work this out.” Zuko couldn’t help the feeling that he was being scolded by his mother.

“So you’re going to force us to talk? Like that’s going to work.” Suki said nothing. Exasperated and still soaking wet, he plopped himself down on the concrete floor. “Fine, I guess I’ll just sit here.”

Footsteps echoed from the floor above signalling Katara’s imminent arrival. He inwardly groaned. It’s not like he’s never tried to talk to her, he’s exhausted himself trying to figure out what he did to irritate her so much. And he knew that forcing them to be alone in the basement would only lead to another screaming match. 

He hated how angry she could make him. He never lost control like that with anyone else, not even his terrible excuse for a father. It almost made him feel like a child throwing a temper tantrum when they got into blowouts like the one they’d just had. She’d never gone so far as to physically push him before, though. He still didn’t understand what he’d done to deserve that one.

Confused, irritated, and sopping wet, Zuko watched Sokka carry Katara down the stairs over his shoulder. “Sokka, you can’t trap me in the basement!”

“Katara, you’ve officially crossed a line. I’m invoking the big brother card. I’m older than you and therefore I am in charge. If I want to give you a time out I will.” the boy said, dragging her over to where Zuko sat on the floor and plopping her down next to him. He resisted the urge to laugh.

“Hey, you can’t pull the big brother card! I’m literally a legal adult.”

Sokka crossed his arms and Zuko knew that he was actually being serious, “Not in this house you aren’t. Look, Suki and I expected this so we came up with a plan. You guys can’t keep your shit together when you’re near each other and we’re all sick of it. Figure out your issues and solve them and you can leave. It’s simple.”

Katara’s face scrunched up in protest, “What is talking going to do? We hate each other.”

“Maybe if you’d tell me what your problem is I could figure out why you’re always such a bitch!” Zuko found himself yelling at her, despite having calmed down a bit in the meantime.

Katara stood, towering over him ready to scream at him again, “Oh, that’s  _ it _ ! You don’t get to call me a bitch.”

“You are one!”

Sokka and Suki shared a look, “Should we go now?”

Suki nodded, “I think that’s best. We’re not coming back until you sort your shit out.”

Zuko watched as they turned to leave the room, “Wait, don’t leave me here with this... demon!”

“So first I’m a bitch, now I’m a demon? God, I can’t believe I ever wanted to be friends with you!” Katara turned her back, going to sit on the beat up couch. He was still mad, but the last part caught his attention. 

“What do you mean? You never wanted to be friends with me. You’ve pretty much hated me from day one!”

Katara turned to him, lips pursed in anger, “That’s not true. All I heard from Sokka was how great you were and how well you’d fit in with the group and I believed him. I was so stupid.”

“What, and meeting me in person you realized that I’m absolutely terrible? I don’t remember ever doing anything to you.”

“That’s the point! I did like you at first.” 

“So what changed then?”

“You kissed me in that closet! And then you told everyone that nothing happened!” She turned away, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “And yeah, maybe that’s a dumb reason but everything you did after that just ended up irritating me! And maybe I was a little bit embarrassed and I was like 15 so I might have had a little bit of a crush on you and I might have been a bit of a bitch about it, but you never acknowledged me or apologized.”

Zuko could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes. That was seriously what had ticked her off so much? It wasn’t like he had done any of it on purpose. Still, he felt like he should at least explain, “Katara, I didn’t mean to! I wasn’t really thrilled to be playing seven minutes in heaven with my closest friend’s little sister. I denied it because it was embarrassing for me too. I didn’t think it meant anything to you.”

Katara’s eyes widened as she snapped her head around to look at him, piercing and blue she stared right through him. “It was my first kiss! Of course it meant something to me.”

"Wait, you don't still have a crush on me do you?"

"No not anymore! I got over that one pretty quickly."

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Why didn’t you confront me about it? I would’ve explained if you ever bothered to ask.”

Now she had a sheepish look on her face and he could tell she was starting to realize how stupid the whole thing was. He just hoped she’d stop yelling at him. 

“I wanted to, but I didn’t want to make things any more awkward than they were. And you started dating Mai like a week later and then you disappeared for like 2 months. It was easier to just hate you.”

“Well, that was around when my parents got divorced. Me and Azula had to live with just my dad and that wasn't exactly... ideal. I wasn’t really thinking straight. I’m sorry.”

Zuko was astounded that a simple kiss in a closet was the reason behind her anger. He always thought that she had just not wanted to kiss him or that she wanted to forget that it happened because she didn’t see him that way. He never thought that had been her first kiss and he felt terrible for ruining it. 

“No, I’m sorry. I guess I really overreacted.” her voice was somber now, apologetic.

He inched closer to her, taking the seat beside her on the couch. Standing felt too intimidating. “You might have a little bit.”

He noticed that her eyes were watery and immediately felt bad. Yeah, she’d been an ass to him for almost the entire time he’d known her, but at least now he knew why. She sniffled and continued, “I lost my mom, too. I’m sure Sokka told you, but he handled it a lot better than I did. Anyway, I get where you’re coming from. It’s a lot easier to push people away than it is to let them in. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“It’s hard, but we’re all just doing our best. At least that’s what Uncle always says. I’m sorry for messing up your first kiss. And I’m sorry for being an ass to you back.”

“Thanks for that. I’m really good at holding grudges.” She chuckled, “Would you want to start over?”

“What, like being friends?”

“Yeah. But I don’t want the whole group to think that we just hashed our shit out right away. I say we mess with them a bit. Sokka is going to be way too proud of himself if we just waltz out of here with no hard feelings.”

“Yeah, I think we should. I live to prove Sokka wrong. I can’t believe trapping us down here actually worked.”

Katara smiled, “Sokka is a master strategist. I’m surprised that we thought it wouldn’t work.”

“I was just ready to tear your head off about 15 minutes ago. I definitely didn’t see this going the way it did.”

“Well, I’m glad. I feel like there’s a giant weight off of my shoulders.”

She smiled, and he could tell that they’d really made a breakthrough. The basement door squeaked open and they both jumped slightly, Katara even scooted away from him. 

They heard Sokka’s voice echoing down the stairs, “I don’t hear yelling! Are you guys good now?”

Katara huffed, back in her agitated mood, “Yes, can you let us out now?”

“Zuko?” he called out, “Is she telling the truth?”

Zuko rolled his eyes, standing, “We’re as good as it’s gonna get. Can we come back up? I didn’t even get to smoke the rest of the bowl.” He offered her a hand, hoping to show that he was serious about their truce.

She took it, albeit lightly and they walked to the stairs, dropping their hands when they approached Sokka’s line of sight.

Sokka, satisfied that they had worked out whatever they needed to, opened the door wider to let them pass. “Alright, you can come back. Haru and I smoked the rest of the bowl pack, though, so you’re going to have to pack again.”

“Sokka, that was my bud!” He smacked his friend on the arm playfully, ready to hang out with everyone. He moved to follow Sokka back to the pool when Katara grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

“I’m glad we talked.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll try to be less of a bitch but if you annoy me purposely, I’m not making any promises.”

He chuckled, “I’ll try my best to not piss you off, then.”

She nodded, letting go of his wrist to hold her hand out to him, “Truce then?” He took it and shook.

“Truce.”

Then, as if nothing had even happened, she walked past him right out of the sliding door. His hand felt like it had been singed, not used to her touch. At least not of the friendly kind. 

Zuko thought that maybe this would work out. The side of Katara he saw in the basement might be a side of her that he would like. He just had to make sure he didn’t do anything to make her angry with him again. An angry Katara was something he was excited to leave in the past. Maybe they could actually be friends.

\---

After passing the bong around another couple of times, Toph thought that it would be the most opportune time to play a drinking game. Zuko wasn’t much of a drinker, but he could sip a beer to placate the others. He didn’t like to get drunk, though, and that was why he preferred smoking. Alcoholism tended to run in his family and another reminder of how he could turn out like his father was more than he wanted to get into in his free time.

Still, he cracked open a can and joined the circle. The girls had all decided on truth or dare, which he found himself dreading. At least it wasn’t seven minutes in heaven. Apparently, they’d outgrown that one. 

Toph spoke first, “I’ll go first because you guys are all pussies. Haru, truth or dare?”

“Hey, how is it going first if you’re coming up with the question?”

She huffed, “Just pick one, rockhead.”

Haru sighed, resigning himself to torture, “Truth I guess.”

“How good is Ty Lee in bed?” Toph smirked, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. Zuko didn’t know what else he expected of her. This was exactly why she’d suggested a game, she always liked to call everyone out on their shit and it gave her the perfect excuse to do it.

Haru blushed, trying to avoid looking in Ty Lee’s direction, “Well… I wouldn’t know. We haven’t, uh, done anything beyond kissing, um just yet.”

Ty Lee didn’t really look embarrassed and seemed satisfied that he was telling the truth. That made sense to Zuko. She never got embarrassed about anything. How could she when she told everyone just about every thought that went through her head? She was really the definition of an open book. Haru, however, looked like he was ready to crawl into a hole.

“Okay, so that was kind of uneventful. Haru, ask someone else.”

He nodded, face still red. “Suki, truth or dare?”

She grinned devilishly, “Dare, of course.”

“Alright, I dare you to sing one of your sorority songs.”

Suki shrugged, “Easy.”

“Ok, but you have to do it while doing a handstand.”

“What, like it’s hard?” She stood, kicking her legs into the handstand and started scream-singing. She was terribly off-key, but she managed to hold the handstand until the end of the song.

“There, done. Haru, you suck at dares.”

“I don’t know it was the first thing I could think of. All I hear at school is her and the rest of them going on about how much they hate the songs.”

Sokka agreed, “I don’t look back fondly on the semester you pledged. I had that one ‘Sisters’ song stuck in my head for a week.”

“We had to learn it somehow. They’re a little cheesy, but its fun when we’re all together doing it.” Suki said, taking back her spot in the circle.

“For being loud and annoying you have to drink.” Mai said, rubbing at her temples.

Suki shrugged again, taking a long swig, “Tough crowd.”

She looked around the circle, deciding who to ask next. She picked Katara.

“Truth.”

Toph sighed, “Of course Sugar Queen picks truth.”

“I’ll make it a good one, then. Katara, what did you and Zuko talk about in the basement?”

He found himself flushing, and silently pleaded with her not to say anything. Normally, she’d take the opportunity to embarrass the hell out of him, but he could tell by her stony expression that she wasn’t up to talking about it either. 

“We yelled a little and came to a truce. Not much else really happened. I still don’t like him but I agreed to stop being an asshole around everyone else and so did he.” she said, avoiding Suki’s glare.

“Come on, specifics!”   
“We just realized that we were being stupid and should stop being assholes to each other. It’s not like we’re friends all of a sudden! It was a truce.” He was glad that she didn’t tell them everything, but he found himself being a bit hurt that she insisted they weren’t friends even though they had agreed to not be obvious. 

“Ugh, this is boring. I say we just play some flip cup and move on.” Toph said, standing up. She grabbed Aang’s hand and had him guide her to the table to set up cups.

Zuko let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, glad that he hadn’t ended up being called out either. Everyone else went to start the game, while Katara hung back still sitting near the edge of the pool. She tried to scroll through her phone and look busy, but he could tell that she was a little unnerved.

“Hey, thanks for being cool about it.” he said, offering his arm to her again.

She took it, rolling her eyes, “Yeah, well I didn’t exactly want to tell them all that we had a heart to heart. That’s just straight up embarrassing.”

He nodded, “Yeah, exactly. So, in honor of our truce, I think that I should be able to push you in the pool without repercussions. That sound fair?”

“You’re seriously asking me for permission to push me in the pool?”

He smirked, “Well, honor dictates that I should ask before exacting my revenge.”

“Oh, it’s because of honor? What a load of bull shit.” she scoffed, folding her arms.

“No, I just didn’t have a good way to get your phone out of your hand before I could push you and I feel like I’m justified in pushing you in the pool.”

“Fine, hold it then.” She handed it to him, unbuttoning her jean shorts and kicking them to the side. “Alright, push away.”

He grinned, pushing her backwards. He heard Toph from the other side of the yard, “Who fell in the pool?”

She surfaced a few seconds later, her long hair covering her eyes. “Happy now?”

“I think that’ll do. I’m not helping you out, though.” He set her phone down next to the shorts and walked away.

Sokka gave him a thumbs up, realizing that Katara wasn’t going to throw a hissy fit, “Revenge?”

“ _ Honorable _ revenge.”

“Yeah, yeah, get over here and flip some cups, Sparky.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a little short but the next couple of chapters should be a lot longer. I’m trying to stick to getting this out weekly. I’m about two days late to that, but at least it wasn’t a month! I’ve had a hard time finding opportunities to write lately. I hope this was satisfying enough, i’m honestly really excited about this story! Please validate me in the comments it makes me feel better lol.


	3. Schley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I edited the first two chapters to switch up the plot a little bit. I really didn’t like my reasoning behind the feud and I wanted to spice it up a little before continuing. I know that some people thought Katara was being childish but that’s kind of the point. She’s a teenager who’s been allowed to be self centered, of course she’s going to be a little childish. That was intentional lol and I don’t feel like its out of character for her in this situation. Katara definitely holds a grudge further than she needs to and without a war putting pressure on her and her family I can see her being a little more selfish and self centered, my way or the highway kind of gal. I think as we go from here you’ll see how she progresses. Also sorry it’s been so long since i’ve updated I have really been struggling with school and work this semester. I’ve been incredibly busy but as I head into a small break soon I wanted to try to update while I’m not super swamped. So, here’s a newly reworked chapter 3!

**Schley**

_ “So watch out, you're in danger _

_ You'd never know it but you know that it's possible _

_ Like old friends who never ask ‘How can you be happy when you wear all black?’ _

_ And they care because they wanna” _

  
  


Zuko sat on his uncle’s porch later that night smoking a joint. He cut himself off earlier in the night and now that it was late and he would be heading to bed he wanted to blow off some excess steam and try to relax. His conversation with Katara was more productive than he thought it would be but he had a hard time getting it out of his head.

He didn’t process it in the moment, but Katara had a crush on him. Or at least she did three years ago. Zuko wasn’t sure why that detail wouldn’t stop repeating in his mind. It wasn’t like he’d ever had a serious crush on her. Most of the time he’d known her she was more of a pest than someone he felt like he could have romantic feelings for. 

He had kissed her, though.

\---

If anything, he had gone into the closet thinking that there was no way he would do it even if it was what they were supposed to be doing in there. He did it because she had been so adamant about getting it over with.

“Look if we don’t just do it everyone is going to laugh. I don’t want to look stupid.” She insisted, blue eyes boring into his own.

“If Sokka thinks that I kissed you he’ll never speak to me again. I can’t!”

She folded her arms, “Who cares about Sokka. He’s a literal idiot.”

“He’s my best friend! And your brother! I wouldn’t want him kissing Azula either.”

“No one wants to kiss Azula, she’s terrifying. I don’t know how Mai and Ty Lee can put up with her.”

“Who said anyone wants to kiss you?”

“That’s just mean.”

He sighed forcibly, turning away from her. “Ugh, this is ridiculous. TOPH, LET US OUT.”

She grabbed his shoulder pulling him around to face her, “Why are you being such a pussy, just kiss me so we can leave.”

Against his better judgement, he took the opportunity of their faces being so close and pulled her in for a chaste kiss. Letting himself linger for the smallest amount of time he could manage and heading straight back to the door to pound on it loudly.

“Toph, we did it now let us out!”

The door swung open quickly, Toph just outside with the rest of the group not much further away. “Really?”

Zuko pushed past her, not sparing a look at Katara behind him, “No, nothing happened I was getting claustrophobic.”

Sokka breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh thank god, I knew you wouldn’t do it.”

Toph pouted, “Katara?”

He didn’t look up, afraid to gauge her reaction, “No, nothing.” She said quietly, emerging from the darkness of the closet. He sat next to Mai and the rest of the group moved on from the game quickly after Sokka and Suki were put in next.

\---

He took a hit considering it. He still didn’t have feelings for her. And she obviously didn’t have feelings for him anymore. But he felt confident that they could still be friends. So he sent her a text.

**_Z: You want to smoke at the park tomorrow?_ **

Her reply came a minute or so later:

**_K: Is that a formal offer of friendship?_ **

He smiled, rolling his eyes.

**_Z: Yes it’s supposed to be._ **

The next response was quicker than the last.

**_K: Sure then. What time?_ **

**_Z: Noonish? We could get some tea after?_ **

**_K: It’s a plan._ **

He took another couple of hits from the joint and put it out carefully, wiping away any evidence of ash on the deck. He always felt guilty smoking at Uncle’s house. He didn’t want to do anything to disappoint the kind man. He owed him too much. But the high did wonders for his anxiety and he found it hard to sleep without it. 

Tonight, he went to sleep smiling.

\---

The next day he met her at the park under a large willow tree. She gave him a pointed look, but her typical hostility wasn’t there. He sat next to her, plopping his backpack down next to him. She picked a great spot for him to roll and they were close to the edge of the forest so they would have enough cover to smoke.

“Nice spot.”

“Yeah, well I have to have a good place to go when my dad isn’t out of town. I figured this would work.”

“I just gotta roll quick.”   


“Okay.” she paused for a minute as he started to take out some papers and his baggie. “This is a little weird.”

“Yeah a little.”

“What are we supposed to talk about?”

“I don’t know. What do you talk about with Haru or Aang?”

“For starters, me and Aang don’t really talk as much as we used to. We aren’t completely on friendly terms yet. I don’t really talk to Haru privately all that much.”

“Well, what did you and Aang talk about when you were talking?"

“I dunno, whatever would come up I guess.” She shrugged, watching him twist the rolling paper expertly. “You roll kinda weird. I usually rip off a chunk before.”

“Yeah Sokka does that too. I just find it easier to do it with the whole paper.”

“Sokka taught me so that makes sense. I didn’t really smoke much until last summer. Before you guys all left.”

“Yeah, I’ve always pegged you for more of a drinker.”

“Yeah. Why don’t you drink by the way? I’ve always wondered.”

He licked along the paper strategically, piecing the two edges together, “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“We have time. I don’t mind listening if you’re okay with telling me.”

He furrowed a brow, this was definitely a different side of the girl who pushed him in the pool the day before. “Uh, ok. Um, my dad was a bit of an alcoholic. Apparently my grandfather was too, according to my Uncle. He wasn’t exactly a nice drunk either.”

“I’m sorry, Zuko, I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have pushed it.”

“No, it’s ok. My therapist is always telling me that it’s good to talk about it. I just don’t want to be like him. That’s why I don’t do it.”

“Honestly, I think its a good thing. My mom was killed by a drunk driver.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay I didn’t mean to make it all about me.”

“I’m still sorry. My mom is still alive, but it’s hard sometimes because she’s not the same as she used to be. It feels like she’s just gone too.”

“What happened to her?”

He hadn’t told any of his friends about his mother, not in detail at least. Mai only knew that she wasn’t fit to be his or Azula’s guardian and most of what she actually knew was Azula’s twisted truth of it all. He wasn’t exactly ready to tell Katara, either, so he played it off, “That’s at least a level three friendship story.”

“Oh, so what level are we on now?"

“One! We were basically enemies yesterday. It takes more than a few minutes of talking to get into level two.”

“Alright well, when we do get to level three I’ll be expecting your story.”

He chuckled, glad that she wasn’t pushing it, “Anyway, the joints ready. Wanna take a walk?”

“Yeah.”

She stood, holding her hand out to him like he’d done for her the day before. He took it gratefully as she pulled him to his feet.

\---

They shared the joint between them, talking and sometimes even laughing as they walked the trail. Zuko felt himself relax more and more as they talked, finding it surprisingly easy to make conversation with her. 

They stayed away from the topic of mothers and drunken or absent fathers, instead finding that they had a lot more in common than they’d thought.

“So, how’s college? Any crazy stories?” she asked, taking a puff and coughing a little.

He chuckled, “Nothing too crazy I guess, the parties are fun. My roommate, Jet, usually drags me out to them but I gotta say it's nothing compared to one of Sokka’s.”

She scoffed, passing him the joint, “I find that hard to believe. Sokka is a lot of things but an amazing party planner is not one of them.”

“I don’t know, I always have a good time when he throws them. At least there’s always snacks.”

“Well, you can thank me for the snacks. Sokka basically just tells everyone to come and I do all the set up.”

“Ah, makes sense.” She smiled, looking around at the trees. Silence settled in, but Zuko couldn’t find it uncomfortable. He took another hit, passing it back to her. “I can’t believe we’re actually having fun. You haven’t yelled at me once!”

“You haven’t been a jerk yet, so no reason to yell.”

He laughed and realized that he couldn’t really remember the last time he had done it so authentically. “So, are we gonna tell the rest of them or just keep hanging out in secret and being weird?"

“I don’t want to tell everyone yet. Let them think we hate each other just a little bit longer. It’s more fun to watch them walk on eggshells around us. Did you see Haru’s face when you pushed me in the pool last night?”

“Yeah, he probably thought you were going to actually kill me.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“And for that I’m grateful.” He took a second to inspect the joint, “I think this is beat. Wanna head to the Jasmine Dragon?” He flicked it away, smothering it with his shoe.

“I could use some tea. Is the cute cousin working today?”

Zuko’s eyes widened with shock, “What, Lu Ten?”

“Yeah. He works there, doesn’t he?”

“You think Lu Ten is… cute?”

She just furrowed a brow, “What, am I not allowed to think he’s cute? Because he is. And he’s much friendlier than you.”

He just gaped at her, “I’m friendly!”

She struggled to hold back a laugh, “Whatever you say, Zuko.”

\---

Hanging out with Katara ended up being an almost everyday occurrence from there on out. Whenever one of them was bored or wanted to get out of the house, they’d meet up at the park and smoke. Slowly but surely, Zuko found himself wanting to see how she was doing, what she was up to. 

Three weeks in, he realized that Katara actually was someone he could be friends with, as crazy as that seemed. When he needed someone to talk to, instead of reaching out to Sokka, he found himself texting Katara instead.

So when they went to the Jasmine Dragon for the fifth time that week, he knew that he was going to get some shit for it from his cousin.

They walked in, Katara going on about catching Sokka and Suki in the shower that morning, “I just needed to pee and I saw way too much of Sokka’s ass. I swear when my dad’s gone it's like all of the normal rules of decency go out the window!”

“I can’t believe you didn’t knock!”

“It was 4 am I didn’t think I had to!”

He just laughed and approached the counter, seeing Lu Ten manning the register. His cousin smiled, tapping in their order without having to ask. “Hey Zuko. Zuko’s girlfriend.” He said nonchalantly, not even looking up as he pressed buttons on the register.

Katara froze up, looking straight ahead like a deer caught in headlights.

“Lu, she’s not my girlfriend.” Zuko said quickly, taking a step away from Katara and pulling out his wallet. Katara said nothing, still seeming catatonic.

“Ah, my mistake. Special lady friend then.”

“We’re just friends.” Katara insisted, handing Zuko a couple of bills from her purse before finding a seat out of Lu Ten’s line of sight.

“Great, you freaked her out. Thanks a lot.”

“What do you expect me to think when you guys come in here just about every day high as a kite? I just figured you were together.”

“I can’t have friends?”

“Of course you can, I just assumed-”

“Just drop it.” Zuko hissed in embarrassment, heading towards the table Katara sat at. “Hey, you okay?”

Silence answered him for a minute and he stood, waiting for her to talk.

She looked up, “I think maybe I should just go home after the tea is ready. I don’t really feel like hanging out today.”

“Come on, Lu Ten is an idiot he didn’t mean anything by it. We’re obviously not together.”

“Yeah, obviously.” she muttered as he sat across from her. 

“You wanna just enjoy the tea?”

“Yeah, sorry for being a drama queen.”

“It’s cool. He shouldn’t have assumed. That was awkward.”

“Zuko, come get your tea!” Lu Ten yelled from the counter and Zuko stood abruptly, his chair squeaking against the floor.

“I’ll be right back.” She nodded, lying her head on the table in embarrassment.

He returned a moment later, tea in hand. He handed her the cup and she sipped it quietly.

"Are you upset because you think Lu Ten is cute?" he grinned at her sheepishly, taking a sip of his own tea.

She glared at him, "No and shut up! He's way too old for me anyway. Isn't he like 25 or something?"

Zuko laughed loudly almost choking on his tea, "He's 23 but yeah I guess you're right."

"Whatever, I guess I just got nervous because if Lu Ten thinks we're dating what would everyone else say if they saw us hanging out together like this?"

"I mean, they might think its weird that we've been hiding it and we'd probably get teased a little but it wouldn't be the end of the world."

"I just don't like being the butt of the joke."

He shrugged, "I guess. I really don't think it would be that big of a deal."

"I'm just not ready to tell them."

"Okay. We can wait." He couldn't understand why she was so hesitant. They were just friends. Friends get tea and hang out together. Besides their fued, nothing was really standing in their way now that it had been resolved.

Zuko knew that tomorrow was going to be an awkward day if he wasn't allowed to interact with her around the rest of their friends. He hoped that she'd come around sooner rather than later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m not totally happy with the end of this chapter. It was supposed to end a little differently, but I wasn’t feeling that ending so I changed it a couple of times. I am excited for the next chapter though because it has a little more action and more of the rest of the group. Thanks for reading! And if you didn’t reread the first two chapters please do! I changed a good amount of it.


	4. Victoria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A new chapter in 2 days? Unheard of. Anyways, enjoy :)

**Victoria**

_ “Had such a bad time hanging out _

_ Regret the choices that I made _

_ I know it doesn't matter now _

_ Won't be the one who walks away” _

For the first time since he’d found them, Zuko found himself dreading hanging out with all of his friends. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d dreaded Katara being there, but now it was for a completely different reason. 

Her insistence on keeping their newly found friendship a secret was driving him insane. Zuko wasn’t a good liar in most circumstances and keeping a secret like this from his closest friends was more than taxing on his mental state. He was desperate to come clean to someone,  _ anyone _ . 

Of course, he wanted to tell Sokka, who he was closest to, not only for his personal sanity but that of his friend as well. Her brother would surely feel a lot more comfortable knowing that he didn’t have to worry about his younger sister constantly berating his best friend. But, Zuko knew that Sokka was also someone who couldn’t be trusted with a secret especially if that secret had anything to do with Katara. He was more than overprotective, and while Zuko didn’t quite understand that as he never felt the need to be protective over his own younger sister, he knew that it was bound to get out of hand almost immediately after he divulged the secret. 

He could tell Aang, but Katara was still a taboo topic for him and he didn’t want to cause him any more emotional distress. He could try to tell Haru, but honestly, Haru had rocks for brains and while he’d keep the secret he probably wouldn’t have any meaningful advice to give him which made confessing pointless. He could tell Mai or Ty Lee about it, but one of them would definitely report back to Suki who would likely end up telling Sokka and he was back to square one.

The only person who might be able to both keep the secret and give him the kick in the ass he needed would be Toph. 

Before he could figure out a way to pull her away from everyone without being suspicious, he was roped into a game of pong with Sokka with Katara and Suki as their opponents. He never particularly minded playing beer pong with Sokka because he knew his friend was always down to drink for him, but right now he couldn’t really focus on much else, especially with Katara acting like a complete stranger around him all night.

She’d even resorted to taunting him here and there, insulting his throws and casually calling him out whenever he looked distracted. Whether she was doing it to keep up a front of disliking him or if it was just a nervous reaction to being around him in a larger group, it was starting to get on his nerves.

“Come on, Zuko. Toph could aim better than that!” she taunted, watching the pong ball fly right past the table, not even grazing any of the cups.

Toph called out from the other side of the room, “Damn straight, Sugar Queen!”

He rolled his eyes, shooting her a pointed glance, “Whatever, it’s a game. Besides, Sokka is picking up the slack.” He gestured vaguely at the cups that Sokka had already sunk.

“Yeah but if he keeps drinking for you he’s not going to keep his aim up for much longer.”

Sokka proved her right, slurring his words slightly as he spoke, “Shut up, Katara, I am perfectly sober!”

“I don’t know about that, babe. Maybe you should take a breather.” Suki took her shot, nearly sinking it.

“I can drink another like 6 beers and still beat you.” Sokka picked up a cup he didn’t even have to drink and downed it quickly.

Katara smirked, “Maybe we should pull a mercy on them. With Zuko’s terrible aim and my lightweight brother we’re gonna win anyway.”

Her jabs weren’t exactly as hurtful as they used to be, but it felt so much worse now that he had become accustomed to the nicer side of her. It almost felt like her entire personality had done a 180 and he didn’t really recognize her.

Sokka piped up in protest, but Zuko shut him up with a clap to the back not wanting to deal with Katara any longer than he needed to, “I think maybe we can just take the L on this one, bud.”

“I don’t wanna take any L’s. I wanna win!”

Suki left her post at Katara’s side collecting her inebriated boyfriend, “Maybe we can go hangout in your room for a bit? Alone.”

Sokka perked up at the suggestion, practically running towards the stairs. Suki just rolled her eyes, “I’m gonna go put him to bed. See you guys later.” She followed him up the stairs, letting out a sigh or two on the way.

Zuko frowned, now alone at the table with Katara.

“I’m gonna go smoke by the pool if anyone wants to come.” He announced to the room, grabbing his backpack and heading out the sliding door.

He almost wished she’d follow him, but when he turned around to check, she stood solitary by the table cleaning up the cups. He settled down by the pool, dangling his feet in the water while he searched through his backpack for his supplies.

Toph and Aang emerged from the house a minute or two later. Neither of them really smoked, but he was glad that someone had taken him up on the offer so he wouldn’t be alone with his thoughts. 

“Figured we’d come and keep you company. You seemed a little off.” Aang said plopping down effortlessly next to him while Toph found a place to his other side. 

He wasn’t particularly close with the two younger members of the group, but he was far from uncomfortable around them. Toph was like the little sister he’d always wanted Azula to be and Aang was always nice to have around if you needed cheering up or a bit of fun.

“Yeah, what’s up, Sparky?”

“I’m just a little distracted.” he mumbled, trying to concentrate on rolling a joint to keep him from glancing back at Katara again through the glass door.

Aang just gave him a quick pat on the back, “If you want to talk about it we’re here.”

“I’m not really in the mood to get all touchy feely and all but I’ll give you a pep talk if ya need it.” Toph said, punching him on the arm.

“Nah, it’s fine. Just wanted to get some fresh air.” He lit the joint taking a deep pull from it before leaning back on the grass.

Aang spoke in a hushed whisper, like he was afraid to be overheard, “Is it about Katara?”

Zuko sat up quickly, coughing a little as he choked on the smoke, “What? No!”

“It’s ok. You don’t have to be afraid to bring her up to me. I know she can be a bit… intense. And none of us really believed that you actually came to terms last time. She was still pretty brutal tonight.”

“No, really, it’s not that. I just… have a lot going on with, uh, family stuff right now.” He lied through his teeth, feeling terrible as soon as the words came out. He really did not want to bring up anything about Katara around Aang. Despite what he said, he knew that he was still very much broken up about their separation even if he said otherwise. He’d heard Katara’s endless rambling about the texts he was still sending her begging her to take him back nearly six months out from the breakup. He also fully knew that Katara had no plan to do so, either, which just made him feel worse for the kid. They had been hanging out constantly for the past three weeks and Zuko had no intention of rubbing that in Aang’s face. 

Toph spoke up, though saving him from having to say anything else, “It’s cool. You don’t have to talk about it.” 

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to pry. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. I appreciate you guys asking anyway.”

Toph gave another reassuring punch to the bicep. Aang gave him an encouraging pat on the back before standing, “I’m gonna head back in. Toph, you coming?”

“Nah, I’ll chill out here with Sparky for a bit.”

Aang nodded, and retreated back to the house. Toph immediately punched him again, this time in the rib.

“Damn, what?” he sputtered, almost dropping the joint into the pool.

“You were totally lying! What, do you have a thing for Sugar Queen or something?”

“NO! Well, it’s not romantic or anything. I don’t like her like that, but we’ve been hanging out a lot lately. Alone. We’re friends now.” He didn’t know what exactly possessed him to just spill it out like that but the relief he felt telling  _ someone _ kept him from feeling too guilty about it.

“That’s it? Why is she still treating you like a sack of dirt then?”

“She doesn’t want anyone to know! Something about Sokka getting a big head about it or whatever. I don’t really see the point but she really doesn’t want anyone to know about it and it’s driving me crazy trying to keep it a secret when all we do is hang out.”

“So, she doesn’t want us to know that you guys aren’t trying to rip each other’s heads off anymore? There’s gotta be something you’re not telling me.”

“No, I swear that’s it. We worked our shit out in the basement and came to a truce and all that, and I asked her to hang out one day and we’ve just been meeting up to chill and smoke a couple times a week.”

“A couple times a week?”

“What, that’s not weird. I usually hang out with Sokka that much. Not so much right now because I’ve been with her more, but…”

“Sparky, that’s not exactly not normal, but for you and her to get along well enough to actively want to hang out with each other after being at each other’s throats for the past couple of years is kind of a big deal. Or at least it probably is to her. She’s dramatic like that.”

He put his head in his hands, thoroughly frustrated, “Yeah she is. I don’t know, neither of us meant for it to be a regular thing. I just like talking to her. She’s a pretty good friend when she doesn’t hate your guts.”

“So let me get this fully straight: You both like being around each other and you’re no longer mortal enemies and Katara doesn’t want anyone else to know about it.” Toph paused for what he assumed was dramatic effect (And she thought Katara was the dramatic one), “I think Sugar Queen might have a massive crush on you.”

He snorted, “What? There’s no way. She already admitted that she used to when I first started coming around but she got over it because I kissed her during seven minutes in heaven and said it never happened. That’s why she hated me.”

“Zuko, you’re a real idiot.”

“Why?”

“She obviously still likes you. She might just not realize it.”

“No. There’s absolutely no way.”

“What do little kids do when they have a crush? They’re mean, they pull on pigtails, and they act like little shits. Let’s put on our thinking caps, how has Katara treated you for the past three years?”

He had to admit, Toph had a point. But still, he found it hard to believe. “I don’t know. I see your point but we aren’t little kids. And we’ve made it very clear that we’re just friends.”

“Ok, stay in denial, but I think you need to talk to her at the very least. There’s no reason for you guys to hide a friendship if that’s all it is. We’ve all been waiting for you guys to be civil towards each other for years now.”

He huffed, but nodded nonetheless, “Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to her. Just please don’t tell anyone else until we figure it out. I really don’t want to go back to her hating me again because I can’t keep a secret to save my life.”

“Yeah, yeah I’ll keep it quiet for now. Just… sort your shit out, Sparky.”

He had a feeling that if he didn’t that meant she would try to meddle and do it for him, but he hoped that it was unconditional for now. 

Haru, Ty Lee and Mai walked out with Aang, then driving his attention away from Katara. “We’re gonna head out. Toph, you want a ride home?” Haru asked, swinging his car keys on his finger.

“Beats crashing on the couch.”

“Zuko, you need a ride or are you good?” Mai asked as the others walked towards the gate.

“I’m gonna chill until I’m good to drive. Can’t leave my car without Uncle asking too many questions.”

“Okay. Get home safe or whatever.” She muttered, flashing him what was the equivalent of a smile for her. He just waved, taking another couple of hits of the joint while he listened for Haru’s car to drive away. He put the joint out, flicking it over the fence, as he gathered the nerve to go inside and talk to Katara.

She moved around the living room, gathering cups and beer cans into garbage bags. He moved to help her, doing the same.

He decided quickly not to beat around the bush, “I want to tell them.”

She sighed, dropping the garbage bag on the floor, “Why?”

“I can’t keep a secret for shit and I wasn’t exactly enjoying your company tonight.”

“Wait, you didn’t tell anyone did you?” she blurted, eyes wide.

“N-no! I’m just starting to get anxious about it. I- I’m not very good at keeping secrets.”

She sighed in relief, “Alright. And I’m sorry for being an ass again. I really was trying to go easy on you. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“Honestly, it’s even worse when I know you don’t mean it. You used to annoy me at best, but now it just makes me feel like shit. I really just don’t see why we can’t tell them. I don’t think anyone will really care.”

She bit her lip, looking genuinely torn, “I just… there’s a lot of reasons. I feel like everyone is going to just endlessly tease us about it and I don’t want to hurt Aang and-”

He interrupted her, “Aang isn’t going to be hurt if we’re just friends!” She opened her mouth to speak but stopped. He spoke instead, “And who cares if they say shit? It’s not like we don’t all gang up on somebody every once in a while. They’ll forget about it as soon as someone else does something stupid.”

“I’m just not ready yet. I kind of like having you to myself.”

That struck him as odd, but for some reason he couldn’t find it in himself to argue it. He also liked the secret for just that. It was comforting being able to talk to her in confidence knowing that nothing he said could get spread around to the rest of the group if she was so adamant about keeping their friendship a secret. And sneaking around to hang out was actually kind of fun. It really allowed them to form a close relationship in a super short amount of time.

Lost in thought, he had forgotten to respond to her and she launched into a deeper explanation, “Not that it would be bad to be your friend around other people, that’s not what I mean. But, I like knowing that we’re in our own little world when we’re together. It’s… comforting. I guess I just want it to last a bit longer. If that makes sense.”

“As much as I want to say it doesn’t, I get what you mean. It’s kind of cool being in our own little bubble.”

“So can we keep it quiet for a bit?”

“Yeah, but we do need to tell them eventually. I can’t hold it in forever.”

“Okay.” He smiled, and she crossed over to him, pulling him into a hug. He hesitated, unused to being so close to her, but wrapped his arms around her eventually. She pulled back after a moment, looking up at him, “Thank you, Zuko.”

“For what?”

“For being my friend. I really do appreciate what we have right now. It’s been really nice getting to know you properly.”

He froze, his brain not coming up with a proper response, especially with her so close to him. He felt almost overwhelmed by her arms thrown carelessly around his neck. It almost felt too intimate, especially when they hadn’t touched much at all previously. Touch was not something that he was able to process quickly and without warning. So he stammered out a reply, “Uh, yeah. Me too.”

She pulled away, sensing that he was distressed by her proximity. “Anyways, are you sticking around for a bit? I could use some help getting all of this picked up. My dad comes home on Monday.”

He sighed, relaxing. That he could do. “Yeah, of course. Are you excited to see him?”

“Yes and no. I’ve missed him obviously, but he’ll be gone again by next week. I feel like I’m more used to him being away than I am having him home. It’s definitely worse when Sokka is at school though. The house is a lot more lonely.”

He nodded, pouring a half finished beer into another cup of soda, “I’m sorry. At least you’ll be off at school in a couple months.”

“Yeah, but I worry about how he’ll be alone in the house without us. I know he travels a lot to stay away. I think it’s hard for him to be here without my mom. I used to really resent him for it, but at the same time I understand. It’s not easy to be surrounded by memories every day. I wish he was better at being here for us, but at the same time I can’t blame him for needing to escape it either.” He saw her eyes glinting with tears, but she didn’t let them fall. He felt bad for prying immediately.

“I understand. I hate not being able to visit my mom while I’m away. I almost feel like I’m abandoning her. My uncle still visits her every so often, but I know that Azula doesn’t. I hate feeling like I’m letting her down.”

“I’m sure she understands that you’re just trying to get an education.”

“It depends on the day. Her memory isn’t all that good anymore. Some days she barely recognizes me. I think it’s the scar.” He reached up to the left side of his face, touching the inflamed skin.

“Am I on a high enough friendship level to get the story behind that yet?” She joked, offering him a strangely soothing smile.

“No that’s definitely a level five, but I think you’ve reached level three, now.”

“You wanna talk in my room? Suki will probably come down soon to help clean. I can leave it until the morning.”

He thought about it for a second, but nodded anyway. He had a sudden desire to be in a more confined space and he honestly preferred to avoid any eavesdropping. Zuko couldn’t say he wasn’t interested in seeing her room, either. It was one of the only places in this house that he hadn’t been before and it was hard to deny the intrigue of learning more about her.

She set down her garbage bag, and started towards the stairs. He followed, setting down the swirl of different gross drinks that he’d been pouring into one solo cup. 

They snuck quietly past Sokka’s room and Zuko noticed that the lights in his friend’s room were off. He doubted that Suki was still awake, and wondered if Katara was telling him the whole truth. He also found that he didn’t really care.

Her room was all soft blues and creamy whites and he couldn’t help but find it comforting. He looked around cautiously, trying not to seem like he was staring at anything in particular. She had pictures everywhere of their entire friend group. He was surprised to find himself in a few of the group shots. The room itself was immaculately clean, everything from a freshly made bed to perfectly arranged makeup on her vanity. Nothing was out of place. That was less surprising. Katara had always been organized and well-kept.

She sat on the bed, pulling the covers down a bit so she could burrow herself under them. She patted to the space next to her, inviting him to sit. He obliged, resisting the urge to climb under the covers with her.

“Whenever you’re ready.” She whispered, a small encouraging smile taking over her face. He couldn’t help but feel like he could trust her as he looked into her eyes, the blue of the walls bringing out their hue.

He took a moment to figure out a good place to begin.

“So, my parents went through a really nasty divorce when I was a sophomore; right around when I started hanging out with you guys. It had been terrible for years and my dad was… violent. Not only with my mom but with me, too. Sometimes Azula, but not nearly as often. He really took a lot out on me and my mom. Anyway, my uncle found out about the abuse and insisted that he would help her leave him. He offered to take us all in, including Azula until my mom could find a way to support us. The stress of it all really took a toll on her, though, and she was severely depressed. Eventually it got so bad that she had to be committed. At that point, she was still fighting for custody of us and she lost it. The court ended up giving Azula and I a choice between my uncle and my father. I chose Uncle and Azula chose him. My mom has been in a mental facility even since.”

“Oh, Zuko. I… That’s terrible. I am so sorry. I knew it was bad but I didn’t know the half of it.”

“I mean, it’s okay. When she is lucid enough I can talk to her like she never left. Some days are better than others. I still miss her a lot though.”

“That’s good. I’d give anything to just see my mother again so I completely understand.”

“It felt good to tell someone, actually. Mai and Ty Lee know, but they really only know Azula’s side. And I know for a fact that she probably made my mother out to be some sort of lunatic who deserved everything that happened to her. She never really got along with mom. Dad favored her, though, so I can see why she put all of her faith in him. If he gave me even an ounce of the positive attention he gave her when I was a kid I might have stayed with him too.”

She didn’t say anything this time, instead placing her hand over his, pulling him in for another bone-crushing hug. It still felt strange to be so close to her, but he accepted it more readily this time.

When she let go, he felt a weight off his shoulders. It felt good to talk about it. He finally understood what his therapist had been telling him about sharing his trauma with people he could trust. It almost felt as relieving as telling Toph about Katara. 

“Do you want to stay here tonight? I know you just smoked and I don’t want you to drive home upset.” She whispered, still holding onto his hand.

“What, in here? WIth you?” He suddenly felt heat rise to his cheeks and watched as a blush formed on her face, too.

Her eyes went wide, “I mean, yeah. Completely platonically. If you’d rather stay on the couch or something…”

“Uh, no it’s ok. I can stay here. If you want me to.” He found it hard not to trip over his words. Why was he so nervous about sharing a bed with her? It wasn’t like they were going to cuddle or anything. It would certainly be better than sleeping alone at his uncle’s house. Her bed was pretty comfy, too. He wouldn’t mind getting under the covers.

“Okay.” She settled further into the bed, reaching for the light on her bedside table flicking it off.

He settled in on his own side, trying to stay as far away as he could without falling off. He heard her take a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He did the same.

“Goodnight, Zuko.”

“Goodnight, Katara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omfg that got so long! And I completely went off of my outline but whatever I loved writing every line lol. I think now that I made those edits I’m feeling a lot more sure about the whole story and its definitely making it easier to write it. I definitely put off doing assignments to get this out but it was worth it. Please leave a comment if you liked it! It really encourages me to keep going bc I live for validation lol. I’m down for any constructive criticism also! Next chapter will probably be up in a few days because I am on a writing kick at the moment :)


	5. In the Army Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank my boyfriend for falling asleep at 10 pm for getting this one out! It gave me lots of silent alone time to get writing lol. Enjoy!
> 
> also TW: blood, minor injury (just for this chapter)

**In the Army Now**

_ “Furniture store _

_ Shards of glass _

_ I wanna kiss you through your hockey mask _

_ I always knew you'd leave me someday _

_ I always knew you'd have to go” _

**TW: Blood, minor injury**

Zuko opened his eyes and all he could see was blue. The light pouring in from behind soft white curtains eased him awake but before he could realize where he was, he heard a sigh come from his left.

He turned suddenly, the blankets shifting around him. Katara was next to him, facing him, and he understood with a bit of shock that he had woken up in her room. He thought that his stirring might have woken her, but she was perfectly asleep, head buried in her pillow. He relaxed, lying his head back down.

Now recalling her invitation to stay the night before, he felt his heart rate slow and the shock of waking up in an unfamiliar place subside. As much as he was almost disappointed, he was glad that they hadn’t managed to end up in a tangle of limbs. Besides her arm resting just a bit too close to his pillow, they’d mostly stayed on their own sides of the bed. In that, he found just the smallest bit of relief. 

Sure, they were friends and friends were allowed to have sleepovers. It wasn’t as if he’d never woken up next to Sokka in the next room over. This somehow felt… different.

He studied her, taking in the way that the sunlight beamed off of her sloped nose. He wouldn’t kid himself into thinking that she looked anything but perfect, angelic even, in her sleep. It pushed any thoughts of her former hostility towards him completely out of his mind. 

Zuko did feel almost creepy staring, though, and crept out of the bed as quietly as possible to avoid waking her. He noticed her tossing over on her other side, but other than that, she seemed to be staying put so he continued to tiptoe across the room. 

A knock on the door startled him enough to nearly trip, but he caught himself just in time. Katara shot up in the bed and stared at him wide eyed, as if she’d forgotten he was there. “Kat? You awake?” Sokka’s voice sounded loudly through the door.

She bounded out of bed, moving to shove Zuko in her closet. He complied, with a sudden rush of panic. She closed the door and he watched through the cracks as she practically jumped back into the bed. Sokka opened her door just a second later.

Groggily, she stammered, “Uh, um now I am. What do you want?”

“Suki’s making breakfast, do you want any?”

She sighed in relief, “Sure, I’ll be down in a bit.”

He looked around the room suspiciously, “Cool. Oh, also Suki was hearing voices last night, did someone stay over?”

He watched as her eyes went wide, “Oh, uh Toph and I were up here talking for a bit but she left with everyone else.”

“That’s strange, she thought it was one of the guys. Guess she was wrong.”

“Yeah. Just Toph.”

He shrugged, moving back to the door, “Well, it’ll be ready in like 10 minutes so come eat.”

She muttered an affirming reply and waited for Sokka to finally close the door behind him. As soon as his footsteps retreated down the hallway, she sprang out of bed again heading for the closet.

“Shit, that was close.”

He stepped out, letting out the breath he was holding. “Yeah, I was just about to go to the bathroom.”

“Sorry for stuffing you in the closet, I panicked.”

He resisted the urge to laugh, “It’s fine. How am I going to leave, though, if they’re downstairs? I gotta get home soon before Uncle sends out a search party.” He knew he definitely had a handful of texts waiting for him to read by now. Uncle was up at sunrise every day no matter what.

“Ah shit, well you could go out my window. The roof is pretty easy to sneak off of. There’s a um... drainpipe that’s pretty easy to climb down.”

He raised an eyebrow, “So you’d rather have me climb down a drainpipe than tell your brother and his girlfriend, who we are both very close with, that I slept here?”

“Well when you put it that way…” She almost looks guilty, but the look slides off her face quickly, “We just talked about this last night. I’m not ready to tell anyone yet and Sokka will probably kill you if he knows you slept in my bed.”

“Well its not like we… did anything. It was just sleeping.” 

She frowned, “Yes, but convincing Sokka that that was the case is a whole other story. He’s already suspicious because Suki heard us.”

He sighed, “Fine, I’ll go scale the roof then.” He looked around the room in an attempt to gather his things but realized quickly that besides his phone, he’d left the rest of his things in his backpack by the pool. “Shit.”

“Yeah. Look I’m sorry, I just - It’s not the right time.”

“No, Katara, I left my backpack by the pool.”

Her eyes widened in realization, “Shit! Who knows if they’ve been out there? What if they saw?” She paces nervously near the window.

“It’s fine. Just tell them that I left it behind if they notice. All I need right now is my keys. Is there any way you could throw them over the fence without them seeing?”

“I could probably make it work.”

“Okay. We can meet up later and you can bring my bag. Just stash it somewhere for now.”

She relaxes, moving to open her window. “Yeah, okay. That’s actually logical. Our spot at three? Sokka should be out of the house by then.”

“Sure.” He sighs again, ducking and climbing out of the window. He takes a long hard look at the drainpipe, assessing how he should attempt to slide down it. “This’ll be fun.”

“You’ll live. Just be careful.” She gives him a slight smirk as he makes his way to the side of the roof.

“I’ll do my best.” He gets a good hold on the pipe and manages to make his way down with relative ease. Zuko makes his way around the house, ducking under windows and probably looking like he’s casing the place. He’s all too glad that he’s in broad daylight or he would’ve probably looked even more suspicious creeping around like he was.

He finally made it to the fence waiting patiently for her to toss his keys over. He could hear the sliding door squeak open and sighed in relief. A few moments later his car keys were tossed over the fence.

“See you at three.” she whispered through the cracks of the wooden fence, he could see a glimpse of her light blue sweatshirt before it disappeared.

\---

Turning the ignition off in his driveway, Zuko took a deep breath in to prepare for his uncle to give him an earful about staying out all night. It was times like these that he missed living at school.

Before he could get out of the car, his uncle opened the front door, eyebrow raised at him knowingly. He approached the house, feeling more and more like he was doing a walk of shame.

“I’m glad to see you, nephew.”

“Sorry, Uncle. I fell asleep at Sokka’s. I should’ve called.”

“I am just glad that you’re safe. Next time, a text would suffice, though.” He struggled to remember that his uncle was not his father and that he didn’t need to be so nervous. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding as they stepped into the house.

“I’ll let you know next time, I promise.”

“That is all I ask. Now, would you like to tell me about this girl you’ve been hanging around with over some tea?”

He stared at his uncle, shocked. “How did you know about Katara?”

“Oh, what a lovely name.” Uncle chuckled, moving to the stove to place a kettle on, “Of course Lu Ten told me. You know that boy can’t keep a secret to save his life. He noticed that you two have been coming to the shop frequently these past few weeks. Interesting that you’ve been going on my days off, though.”

“It’s not like that, she… doesn’t want any of our friends to know that we’ve been hanging out.”

Uncle shot him a concerned look, “And why is that? Is she ashamed of being your friend?”

“No, we just didn’t exactly start out on good terms. I don’t completely understand her reasons, but I don’t think she’s ashamed of me.”

“Puzzling. Katara… isn’t that Sokka’s sister? The one you’ve always complained about?”

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“And what changed your opinion of her?” Uncle took the seat next to him, running a hand through his beard thoughtfully. Zuko didn’t exactly appreciate his uncle’s digging in his relationships, but his advice was more often helpful than not. He had, after all, helped Zuko figure out the right way to break up with Mai in a way that made it possible for them to stay friends afterwards. His advice on Katara’s insistence of secrecy might actually help him convince her to change her mind.

“We just sat down and came to a truce. And I’ve gotten to know her better the past few weeks. It’s like she has an entirely different personality now. And I... like spending time with her.”

“Ah, I see. And I assume she feels similarly?”

“I think so.” She definitely wouldn’t be spending so much time with him if she didn’t, he supposed.

“So why would she want to hide your friendship? What would change if the others figured this out?”

He shrugged, “Not much. I told Toph about it, in confidence, and she pretty much told me that they’d all just be glad that we’re getting along instead of fighting all the time. She told me she’s afraid of the ridicule, but honestly, I don’t see it dragging on for more than a few days until they focus on the next thing that comes up.”

“Hmm. Perhaps she is afraid of something else. Something she isn’t telling you.”

“Maybe.”

The kettle whistled, stirring both of them out of their thoughts. Uncle smiled, “I say we ponder it over a nice cup of ginseng.”

\---

Zuko found himself waiting under their tree as usual when she arrived just a few minutes after three, his backpack slung over her shoulder. She wore a white bandana in her hair, the rest of it flowing behind her in waves. He smiled without even realizing it, surprised at how excited he was to see her. They’d only been apart for the morning, but it was already longer than he wanted it to be.

She plopped down beside him, shoving the backpack into his lap. “Your uncle wasn’t too upset with you for being out all night was he?”

He shook his head, “Eh, I got a little lecture about giving him a heads up if I’m not coming home but I just told him that I crashed with Sokka and forgot to send a text.”

“Good. So, what’s the plan for today?”

“I dunno. What do you feel like doing?” Usually they stuck to hanging out in the park or his uncle’s tea shop. He wasn’t sure what else she’d even want to do. 

She shrugged, “Maybe a nice nature walk? Somewhere that no one else goes.”

“Oh, yeah gotta keep up the secretive meeting vibe.” he joked. She just rolled her eyes. 

“Uh, there’s this little shack in the forest near Uncle’s house that me and Azula used to hide out in. I’m not sure if I remember exactly where it is but we could try to find it?”

“Sounds like a good way to waste an afternoon. I’m down.” She stood, holding a hand out to him. He grasped it, pulling himself to stand. Dramatically she saluted him, turning on her heel, “To the car.”

He laughed, no... giggled, at the change in tone. He couldn’t help but find her terrible sense of humor endearing. It still felt strange feeling so positively about her, but even when he tried to make himself stop, he couldn’t. This bubbly and carefree version of Katara felt so much more tangible than the angry and resentful one he’d known for the past four years. It was like getting to know a whole other person and he couldn’t help but be intoxicated by it. 

It was hard to explain, especially to himself, but there was something about her that kept pulling him in. Of course he’d seen her attempts at cracking jokes before with the rest of the group, but he’d found it more annoying than adorable because he hated her. Now, it was hard to see how he could have ever disliked her.

He was jostled from his thoughts when they reached his car and he noticed that she was waiting patiently next to the passenger side. He scrambled to unlock the doors, mumbling a quick, “Sorry.”

“It’s all good.” She paused like she was surveying him. He tensed up, knowing that whatever she found would be more spot on than he’d care to admit. “Are you sure you want to find this shack? I don’t want it to bring up any bad memories.”

He turned the ignition, pondering it. He was distracted enough by her that he hadn’t even been thinking about how he would feel going to their hiding spot. He hadn’t been there since the divorce and if he were being completely honest with himself, he wasn’t sure how it would make him feel or what memories it would dredge up. “I think it’ll be okay. The memories I have there were never bad. If anything, it’s the only place that I felt safe as a kid.”

“Well, if anything happens, you can talk to me, okay?”

He smiled, “Okay.”

\---

They wandered through the woods for what seemed like hours. “I honestly don’t know if we’re gonna find it at this rate. All of the landmarks are different.” he sighed, nearly ready to throw in the towel and make the trek back to his car again.

“No, come on! We’ve gotta find it, we’ve already come this far.” she argued, pulling on his arm as she trudged further down the trail.

“Katara, we’re going to get lost. I don’t want to get stuck out here.”

“What, being around me is that bad?” she teased, continuing to pull him. It was hard to ignore the feel of her hand wrapped around his bare forearm. He almost wished she’d grabbed him by the hand instead, but pushed the thought out of his head. Zuko chalked it up to the fact that he wasn’t used to physical contact, citing that for the sudden flush of redness he felt creeping up his face.

He stopped, and she dropped his arm. He immediately felt the loss, a warm summer breeze replacing the warmth of her fingers. “No, of course not. You’re perfectly tolerable company. I’m just not sure that we’ll find it. It could’ve been torn down, too. I’m honestly not even sure if this is public property or not.”

She crossed her arms, “Well, thank you for that lovely compliment, but we’re going to find this shack whether we get lost in the woods or not.”

“God, you’re stubborn.”

She rolled her eyes, “It’s something I pride myself on. So, are we going to keep looking or are you going to give up because you’re scared of the big bad woods?”

He sighed, “Who said I was scared?” She just looked at him stoically, lips pursed. “Fine, let’s keep going.”

She smiled, reaching out to him again and linking her arm in his as they walked, “That’s what I thought.”

“I can see why Toph calls you Sugar Queen now.”

“Oh, and why is that?” She asked sweetly, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“It’s amazing how quickly you can go from stubborn to sweet.”

She shrugged, “Years of practice trying to get Sokka to go along with my plans.”

“So you’re just manipulating me?”

“Not entirely. I’d prefer to call it… persuasion.”

“Well, when you put it that way.” he laughed, using his elbow to nudge her. She nudged back, a wide smile lighting up her face. This was what always surprised him the most, how easy it was to joke around with her. It wasn’t like he never acted like this with his friends, but it felt so natural to tease her and push her buttons. Zuko was never one for button pushing, especially when he’d spent most of his childhood trying to avoid being seen or heard. She didn’t punish him for it, just took it in stride. Even when they were at each other’s throats, he’d never found it difficult to find a way to irritate her and get a reaction from her. Especially when he wasn’t trying to.

Zuko looked through the trees, searching absently for the little shack, trying to keep himself from looking at her directly. He was pulled out of his thoughts again by her stopping abruptly, pointing off into the distance.

“Zuko, I think I found it!” She looked to him eagerly, no doubt proud of herself for spotting it first.

He squinted, making out the outline of a small cabin through a line of trees. It was further from the trail than he remembered it being, but it was there.

“I think you did.”

She pulled his arm again, urging him closer. He followed, twigs crunching under their feet.

The shack seemed to be in serious disrepair and he considered the fact that the roof looked like it would cave in at any second. He stopped, letting his arm fall from her grasp to stare at it.

It looked much smaller now, but he supposed that was because he was bigger. A rush of emotion hit him, then, and he had to fight to keep it at bay. He hadn’t expected to feel much of anything about this place, but it was hard to resist thinking of the good times that he’d had here. It made him miss his sister terribly, no matter how much of an insufferable witch she could be.

Katara, seemingly sensing that he was a bit overwhelmed, rested a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m okay.” he said, so low he was nearly whispering.

“Okay.” She answered back, her voice soft and soothing.

He shook off any last bits of melancholy he could and turned to her, “You wanna check it out?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” Her expression soft and full of a gentle kindness he hadn’t really seen much of gave him the push he needed to unroot his feet and move.

He struggled with the door, shoving the rotted wood until it finally gave way. They ducked through the doorframe, shorter than he remembered.

“Wow. I can see why you guys would come here. It’s surprisingly cozy.” He watched as she scanned the one room area, taking in her surroundings.

Broken windows and cobwebs littered the place, but he could see what she meant. There was still a bit of charm to it, regardless. “Well, it used to be. It’s a little rough now. I guess whoever was maintaining it stopped.” he wondered if they knew that he and Azula had stopped coming there and left it to be swallowed by the forest. He had always wondered how it had always been so clean and kept when they were younger.

Katara stopped, staring at one of the walls covered in children’s drawings. She fingered the tattered edges of one and he crossed the tiny room to inspect it closer.

“Is this supposed to be you?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. It was a crude stick figure depiction of him, shaggy black hair and golden eyes and a scrawled “Zuzu” in the right corner. 

He nodded slowly, noticing starkly the distinct lack of scar reflected in the drawing. “Yeah.” He scanned the wall finding one that he’d drawn of Azula. It looked extremely similar the main difference being that the hair was drawn longer and wispy bangs framed the golden circles serving as his sister’s eyes. His drawing had “Lala” written on it. It had been years since he’d called her that.

“And that’s Azula. It’s almost weird to think of her as a little kid. I only really knew her and Mai and Ty Lee’s mean friend we could never seem to get rid of. No offense.”

“No, that makes sense. It’s hard to remember her being so… innocent I guess. She didn’t stay like that for long. I think she grew out of it earlier than most of us.” He hadn’t seen his sister as the confidant he used to in a long time. She’d learned more from their father than he ever did.

The Azula that used to hide away with him here when being at Uncle’s became too boring wasn’t the Azula he knew now. She was cruel, uncaring, and unsympathetic, and she wasn’t the kind of sister that spent days here with him trying to escape from a home life that terrified them. She might not have been the target of his father’s drunken rampages, but she witnessed them. Being numb to it is probably what had gotten her through, just like trying to be invisible had done for him.

“We can go if it’s too much. I know I pushed you to keep looking and it’s okay if you’re ready to leave.” 

She looked up at him with eyes that evoked calm, like an ocean. She reached up to his face, touching the edge of his scar with a brush of her fingertips. For a split second, he wanted to lean into her touch, but the shock of it made him jerk backwards, accidentally shoving his arm through a broken window straight into a shard of sharp broken glass, scraping it as he went.

“Fuck.” he muttered, pulling his forearm to his chest instinctively. Blood immediately dripped out of the decently sized gash the glass had dragged through his skin and he hissed at the pain.

“Shit, Zuko, are you okay? I’m sorry I shouldn’t have overstepped!” She pulled off her bandana, pressing it tightly to the wound. Her hair fell into her eyes, and she hastily pushed it out of the way.

“Katara, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s my fault, I need to learn when to stop pushing. I pushed you to come here and then I had to push it even further. We gotta get this cleaned up, who knows what kind of gross stuff was on the glass.”

“Katara-”

“Let’s get back to the car, I’ve got bandages at home I can fix it.” She ushered him out of the shack before he could protest, still keeping pressure on the wound. He could feel the bandana getting damper and he figured fighting with her could wait until later.

\---

She drove them to her house, assuring him multiple times that Sokka would be out with Suki and Toph for the next couple hours so no one would see them. He didn’t really care who noticed, he just wanted his arm to stop bleeding. The cut had already started making him dizzy and he was actually glad that she had insisted on driving. She parked down the block, though, not wanting anyone to suspect his presence.

She led him to the downstairs bathroom, continuing to throw out apologies and assurances. He wanted to find it endearing, but he was more concerned with her proximity. She had barely stopped touching him since they’d left the car, whether it be putting pressure on the wound or holding onto him to keep him upright. He was almost embarrassed by his dizziness, but also didn’t mind because it meant she was touching him.

She cleaned the cut carefully, dabbing it with alcohol before pouring a huge stinging amount onto it. He tried hard not to wince, but he felt his face contort anyway. The cut was deep enough that he probably needed stitches, but Katara insisted that he didn’t, wrapping it carefully in a thick band aid. She cited her exceptional first aid training she’d needed to be a lifeguard at the local community center and he found it difficult to argue with her on a good day, let alone in full caretaking mode.

They retreated to her room when the threat of bleeding everywhere had subsided and she forced him to lay down on her bed. He had to admit that there was some irony in settling into the same spot he had woken up that morning.

“Does that feel better?” she asked, sitting beside him.

“Yeah, much. Thank you.”

“Zuko, I can’t say it enough, I'm so sorry. I was being such an idiot I really am way too stubborn for my own good and now you’re hurt-”

“It’s just a scrape. I’ll live. Besides, it’s my own fault. I brought up going there and I shouldn’t have freaked out like that. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I still feel bad about it, though. I shouldn’t have pried.”

He reached for her hand, holding it lightly, “I’m kind of glad you did. As much as that stuff is upsetting, I’ve got to face it sometime. I don’t open up very easily, but you always manage to get it out of me. I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.”

She relaxed, gripping his hand back. “If you say so. I’m glad that you can trust me. Really. It means a lot.”

Looking at her, he had a strong urge to reach out and pull her to him. He found himself wanting to kiss her desperately, but at the same time he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the trust and friendship they’d only so recently found. Still, he inched closer to her, reaching with his good arm to tilt her chin up to him.

Before he could gauge her response, the sound of the garage door opening sent a wave of panic through him. She jumped up and away from him. 

“Shit.” She darted to the window, looking down at the driveway below. “They’re all here.”

“Where do you want me to go?”

“I mean, there’s a good chance they won’t know I’m home. I already cleaned up downstairs.”

A door slammed downstairs, and he heard footsteps treading up the stairs, Sokka calling up to her. “KATARA! You home?”

“Yes!” She called back, worry lining her face.

“Toph is coming up!”

“Fuck, you want to chill on the roof for a few minutes? I’ll get rid of her and then I can take you home.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m sorry, just… please?”

“Fine. But I’m not going down the drainpipe again.”

“Okay, just quickly, please.” She practically pushed him out the window, lightheadedness be damned. Once again, they made it by only seconds as Toph strolled into Katara’s room. Zuko ducked under the open window lying flat on the rooftop.

“Sugar Queen, where’ve you been?” Toph asked, launching herself onto the bed.

“Uh, around I guess.”

“Sure. Listen, I’ve been third wheeling all day and they want to watch some stupid romantic comedy. You wanna hang out for a bit?”

“Uh, yeah sure. Just for a bit though, I’ve got an early morning tomorrow.”

Zuko rolled her eyes debating whether he should actually try to make his way down the drainpipe for the second time that day. He didn’t see a way for Katara to get out of this one.

“Ugh, I hate that you have a job sometimes.”

“We can’t all be as well off as you, Toph. I’ve gotta put money in the college fund somehow.” He was surprised at the bite in her tone. As much as he used to be familiar with it, it sounded strange now.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s not like it doesn’t come with its own drawbacks. Anyway, what did you do today? You’ve been awfully sketchy lately.” Leave it to Toph to change the subject as bluntly as possible. He silently pleaded that she wouldn’t mention his conversation with her from the night before. Though, he had a feeling that she knew he was there somehow.

“I haven’t been sketchy! I’ve just been focused on other… stuff.”

He could almost feel the look Toph was giving her. She could always tell when someone was lying.

“Yeah, right. I think you’ve been hanging around with Sparky.”

“What? Why would you think that?” He could tell she was trying to sound innocent, but the panic in her tone gave her away completely. If he could tell she wasn’t being truthful, so would Toph.

“I’m blind but I’m not an idiot. You guys have both been weird since your ‘truce’. Everyone else might not be putting it together, but it’s not hard to notice.” When Katara said nothing, basically admitting her guilt, Toph continued, “What, are you guys screwing or something? Getting all of that built up sexual tension out finally?”

He felt his eyes nearly bug out of his head, and he immediately knew that Toph was fully aware he was hiding somewhere within earshot.

“Toph! No, it’s not like that. We’re just friends.” He felt his heart sink a bit at that, but tried to push it off.

“Bullshit. Why are you sneaking around then? Sparky is terrible at keeping secrets. He’s gotta have a good reason to be doing it.”

“I swear we haven’t done anything like that. We’ve just been… I don’t know. Getting to know each other I guess.”

“Yeah, and by getting to know each other you mean you’ve been fucking.”

“TOPH! Please, trust me, it’s just friendship. We haven’t done anything like that.”

“Okay, then why are you hiding it?”   
  
“I don’t know! I just- It’s been nice keeping it to ourselves. And I didn’t want to be judged by everyone either, just like you’re doing now!”

“I wouldn’t be judging if you guys had just been honest about it. Believe me, I’m glad you and Sparky worked your shit out. Why do you think Sokka came up with the plan to lock you guys up so you could talk it out? We’re all sick of hearing you guys take jabs at each other every five seconds. It’s exhausting.”

“Yeah, well, I admit it was dumb to attack each other like that, but I didn’t know him the way I do now.”

“Sugar Queen, it kinda sounds like you like him.”  _ Shit.  _ As much as the conversation was helpful to eavesdrop on, he really felt like he shouldn’t be listening. He also felt like he wanted to scream at Toph.

“Well, of course I like him. We’re friends.”

“No, I mean you  _ like _ him.”

“That’s not how it is at all. We just talk and smoke and get tea sometimes. It’s not that deep!” He could hear her getting more and more flustered and he felt even worse.

“I think it is, and that’s why you don’t want us to know. Maybe you’ve had a big fat crush on him this whole time.”

He couldn’t keep listening, but he also couldn’t get off the roof without really making it clear that he was there.

“I’m done talking about it. You’re just imagining things.” His heart sank further, and he couldn’t help feeling hurt. But he didn’t like her like that, either, did he? 

But Zuko couldn’t say he believed that. He had basically just tried to kiss her before they were interrupted. He might be in a little too deep now and it was more than clear that Katara definitely didn’t feel the same way.

“Fine. Just stop playing with the poor guy, then.”

“I’m not playing with him! He’s just my friend!”

Zuko didn’t want to hear any more. He started sliding himself towards the drainpipe on his stomach when he realized that Toph couldn’t actually see him. He stood as quietly as possible, sparing a glance at Katara to make sure her back was turned.

Trying to stay stealthy, he found his footing, ignoring the pain in his arm as he slid as gracefully as possible down the drainpipe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo so this one was a lot but we’re getting into the good stuff now! Please let me know what you think of this chapter. This one was definitely my favorite to write so far. Thank you to everyone who has been reading even if you haven’t left a comment, I appreciate that you’re taking the time to read it regardless!
> 
> I’m also thinking of doing a one shot separate from this story because my brain needs a break from school work and I’ve had a ton of ideas swirling around in the meantime. The semester is over in two weeks and I’ll have a boatload of time to write again so updates should come quicker in the coming weeks. I’m hoping to get another chapter of this out by the end of the week if I don’t get too burnt out!


	6. Christmas Card

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is brought to you by my boyfriend going back home for the weekend with the dog and being alone in my house all weekend alone lol. Lots of uninterrupted writing time and space to brainstorm a bit. It’s not like I can’t write when he’s around, I’m pretty open about it but it is definitely easier when he isn’t distracting me every five minutes and my dog isn’t trying to sit on the laptop. I legit usually get all of my writing done when they’re both asleep for this exact reason lmao.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been reading both this fic and my last one. It really means a lot. I’ve always loved to write fanfics and it’s been years since I have seriously. Honestly this is my first intentional multi-chap fic because I’ve always just written one shots in the past. Zutara was what introduced me to fanfic as a youngin’ and I am so appreciative of what this fandom has evolved into. I may have left for a while but it’s still here and it’s exploding again. I’d like to think I’m a much better writer now than I was back then (5th-6th grade to be specific) and it feels good to come back to this as a different person so many years later. I am so excited to see it thriving again.  
> Anyway, sorry for being emo, this chapter was a blast to write and I really hope you guys like it. 
> 
> and I wanna plug my new tumblr account that i made specifically for zutara content: bagelbitch666 i will legit follow everyone back who follows because I want to be more involved in the fandom and interact lol. I’m also going to be posting about story progress and things like that so if you’re interested in more rambling check it out! ok i'm done enjoy the chapter!!

**Christmas Card**

_ “You treat it like a game of skill _

_ But it's more like a work of art _

_ Or money in a Christmas card _

_ You think about it way too hard _

_ I'm gonna stay with you until _

_ You disappear into the crowd _

_ I don't know what you tried to tell me _

_ You know I think about it still” _

He’d been avoiding her for a week now. He ignored at least six texts, three calls, and she’d even managed to message him on facebook. Katara was nothing if not persistent. And stubborn. And very clearly only liked him as a friend. Even then, she couldn’t do it openly.

As much as he wished that wasn’t the reason he was ignoring her, he couldn’t lie to himself. He felt like he was being used.

Hearing her admit that they had become friends to Toph had felt both freeing and at the same time constricting. He was glad that she at least saw him as a friend, but he found it harder and harder to deny that he didn’t see her as something more than that. Isolation had only made that even more clear to him.

Still, he really didn’t want to talk to her. He needed some space and ignoring her attempts to communicate with him seemed to be the best way to get it, even if it meant he had to isolate himself from his friends for a bit. He’d already told the groupchat that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the party she and Sokka were hosting over the weekend. He’d already gotten a fair amount of shit from the rest of them, but he’d made up some lie about having a family thing and no one pushed it after that.

So he spent a few days at home avoiding her and occasionally hanging out with Lu Ten. Though his cousin was only four years older than him, he always felt like he was miles behind in maturity. Lu Ten had always been more carefree and easygoing than he had been and though he admired his cousin now, Zuko mostly found him annoying as a kid. Like Uncle, he had always opted to observe and offer advice and he found himself allowing him to help more often than he’d care to admit. 

This was definitely one of those times. He was smoking as discreetly as possible on the back porch, puffing on his one-hitter. He was startled so badly by the screech of the sliding door that he almost threw the thing over the railing, sputtering smoke through his nostrils.

Lu Ten joined him, with a raised eyebrow. Zuko quickly stuffed his lighter and the tiny pipe back into his pocket, feeling painfully stupid and trying to resist the urge to cough uncontrollably. At least it wasn’t Uncle.

“What, you’re not gonna share?” the older boy asked, a grin plastered to his face.

“Uh, I didn’t mean to- I was trying not to be so obvious. Sorry.” He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.

Lu Ten rolled his eyes, “I’m serious, Zuzu. How many years have you lived here?”

Zuko swallowed, feeling like a child, “Three.”

“And you’ve never noticed that I take a dab the second I get home from work? I really thought you were smarter than that, college boy.” he shook his head, “So, can I have a hit?”

“You… you knew this whole time?”

“Of course. I’m not an idiot. And dad isn’t either, but he’d never say anything to you about it. He has his own stash, you know. For special occasions.” 

Zuko gaped at his cousin, shocked, but knowing that he probably shouldn’t be. Lu Ten took his silence in stride, holding his hand out. He fished the pipe and lighter out of his pocket handing it to him. “I am such an idiot. I guess I’m just used to hiding things.”

“You're not an idiot, just surprisingly unobservant. You don’t need to hide anything from us. We’re not going to punish you for being a kid, Zuko.”

He nodded, “Not a kid but yeah, I know. Sometimes I forget, though.”

Lu Ten lit the one hitter, taking a hit and french inhaling it to show off, smirking the whole time. “Honestly, this isn’t half bad. Where do you get it?”

Zuko shrugged, “Eh, depends on who’s available. Usually my roommate buys for the both of us. This is just about the last of my stuff from school.”

“Ah, college bud. Not gonna lie, I miss it. Was almost worth staying in school for. I can hook you up if you need someone while you’re here. Might not be as good, but it’ll do in a pinch.”

He found himself smiling, “That’d be nice. Thanks, Lu.”

Lu Ten clapped him on the back, handing the pipe back. “Of course. Actually I kinda wanted to talk to you about something else. Dad’s been wondering why you’ve been hanging around the house so much lately. And I haven’t seen you and that girl at the shop in a while.”

Zuko coughed awkwardly after taking his own hit. “Oh, uh it’s kind of complicated.” He blew the ash out of the pipe, pulling out his grinder to repack it.

“I bet. You wanna talk about it? I’d like to think that I know a thing or two about girls.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Just try.”

He lit the pipe again, inhaling as he searched for the right words. He exhaled the smoke, watching it twist into the wind, floating away. 

“Well, we used to hate each other. Like fighting constantly. She even pushed me in a pool the first night I got back. Sokka locked us in the basement to force us to come to an agreement and it surprisingly worked. So lately we’ve been on good terms, hanging out obviously. But she doesn’t want everyone else to know. Which isn’t that bad, but I just don’t understand why. Everytime she explains I just get more and more confused. And it just makes me feel… used? I don’t know. Like I’m something she needs to hide.” 

Lu Ten nods, encouraging him to continue. He hands off the pipe and goes on, “And we’re friends now, but I think that I’m actually starting to like her and I don’t think she feels the same way. Which is fine, I guess. But it also kind of… bothers me. And maybe that’s selfish, but I feel like I have to suppress it and I’m not good at holding things in.”

“So why are you avoiding her?” He asks through a breath of smoke.

“This is gonna sound dumb, but I was hiding on her roof because her brother and one of our friends came home the other night,” Lu Ten chuckled at that and he felt his cheeks heat up, “and I overheard some things I probably shouldn’t have. It just made me feel… crappy, I guess.”

“What’d she say?”

“Uh, she kinda denied that we were anything more than friends. Which is completely true, but the way she said it just… it felt shitty.”

His cousin gave him a look, “So you’re avoiding her because she said you were friends?”

“When you put it like that it sounds stupid.”

“Not gonna lie, Zuko, it kind of is. I think you just need to talk to her. If it bothers you so much that she wants to keep your friendship a secret, you need to make it clear that being open with the rest of your friends is a clause for that friendship. If she really sees it as a platonic friendship, she shouldn’t have any reservations. Anything romantic is only going to complicate it more and you’ll end up feeling way worse in the long run if you don’t just sort it out. She probably has an equally stupid reason for wanting to hide it.”

Zuko nods sagely, taking in the words. Lu Ten continues, “Good, well now that we’ve discussed that I’ve got… adult stuff to do. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Lu, I’m 19 it’s not like I’m not an adult, too.”

He tutted, handing him back his one-hitter. “Yeah, yeah, baby cousin. Go sort things out with your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my- ugh, nevermind. Go do your ‘adult stuff.’” He ashed the pipe again, hearing the back door shut.

So, he had to talk to Katara. There really was no sense in continuing to avoid her. He knew this all along, but he couldn’t help giving her a taste of her own medicine. He wanted to make her feel as bad as he did as shitty as that sounded. 

Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Almost expecting it to be Katara, he considered ignoring it. But his better judgement forced him to swallow his pride. Without glancing at the caller id, he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Zuzu?” his sister’s voice sounded through the phone, a distinct bite in her tone. He was definitely too high for this, but couldn’t find it in himself to hang up before he figured out why she called.

“Azula. What do you want?”

Her breathy sigh echoed through his ears, he could tell she was thoroughly annoyed already, “I just wanted to check in. We haven’t spoken in what, six months or so?”

“Yeah, for a good reason. Every time I talk to you I end up having to call my therapist.”

“Oh, Zuzu, I’m your little sister. I’m sure talking to me every half a year isn’t that disruptive to your mental health.”

He pinched his brow, sighing deeply, “Look, do you actually need something or are you just trying to derail my life for fun?”

She continued, not missing a beat. “I talked to Mai the other day. She said that you’ve been… withdrawn lately. I thought I should be the bigger person and reach out. Mother always told me I should be more empathetic.”

“You’re not exactly the person I want to confide my troubles in, no offense.”

“So you admit that you’re troubled?”

“Ugh, no-” he felt himself getting angry and immediately tried to use the calming breathing techniques he’d been practicing, “It’s nothing I want to tell you about. You don’t deserve to know about my troubles anymore. Not since you picked  _ him _ .”

“It’s not my fault that father likes me better. Anyway, how has mother dearest been lately? Still incoherent and pathetic?”

He fought hard to reign in his temper, “Actually, she’s been doing a lot better. I had a great conversation with her a few weeks ago. If you ever bothered to visit her maybe you could, too.”

“If I wanted to talk to a vegetable, I’d take a trip to the grocery store. I have nothing to say to her.”

“Whatever, Azula. Is there anything else you wanted to bother me about? Or is insulting our mother and irritating me all you wanted to achieve today?”

“I guess that’s all.” She paused, taking advantage of the silence. She always knew exactly how to hit him where it hurt and leave him wondering how she did it. “You know, if you ever wanted to come back I could talk to father about it. I think under the right circumstances he would consider acknowledging your existence again.”

“Oh, yeah? And what would that require of me? Begging at his feet, or getting my face shoved into a fireplace again? Can’t say I’m crazy about those options.”

“Father can be more forgiving than you’d think, Zuzu.” She paused, “Anyway, it’s just an idea.”

“I have nothing to be forgiven for! I did nothing but try to win his affection my entire life and what did I get from it? I wish you could see that he has you right where he wants you. Under his eye.”

“If that’s how you feel, then fine, I’ll leave you alone. Good luck sorting out your issues, clearly you’ll need it.” he heard a distinct beep signaling the end of the call. 

Talking to his sister was the absolute last thing he needed today. Distracting himself from one crisis with the other, he opened up the texts Katara had sent, finally allowing himself to read them and he slunk down onto the wooden deck.

**K: zuko i’m so sorry**

**K: why did you leave?**

**K: did you at least get home safe? please answer**

**K: come on it’s been three days i really am sorry if i said something to upset you**

**K: zuko what did i do wrong? please answer me**

**K: i know what you said in the gc but i hope you’ll come tonight. you don’t have to talk to me but don’t avoid everyone else because i fucked up. i’m sorry.**

Unfortunately, he could tell that her last text must have been desperate because she’d actually used punctuation. Zuko sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that day and resigned himself to sending her a text. But, he’d make it as vague as possible and would concede nothing. That felt appropriate.

**Z: I’ll try. No promises.**

He would go, but not for her.

\---

After nearly an hour of psyching himself up, he walked into the party. He expected it to be a typical kickback, only to find hordes of people he went to high school with packing every corner of the house. Feeling even more irritated than he thought possible, he scoped the crowd for any sign of his friends. With no such luck he headed for the basement.

After pushing through a gaggle of obnoxious girls he vaguely recognized, he finally spotted Mai, Ty Lee, and Haru huddled in a corner. Ty Lee clung to Haru’s arm, almost as if she were trying to put it out there that she was definitely taken. It made sense, she was always getting hit on at these types of things and he could tell she got easily overwhelmed by it no matter how bubbly she seemed outwardly. Mai stood next to them, scrolling through her phone obviously uncomfortable in the environment and uninterested in being more of a third wheel than she needed to be.

Haru noticed him first, smiling wide as he approached, “Hey, I thought you weren’t coming?”

“I, uh, got out of family night with Uncle. Figured I’d make an appearance. I didn’t realize it was going to be like this,” he gestured vaguely at the room, “I would’ve stayed home.” he shouted over the noise of the crowded room.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Mai said, barely looking up from the screen.

“Actually, could we talk?” he asked, the words summoning her gaze upwards.

She nodded, and he turned back towards the crowd, “I’ll catch up with you guys again in a bit.”

“Yeah, see ya, man.” Haru turned his attention back to Ty Lee who had already started pulling him towards a group of dancing teenagers.

Zuko shoved his way through the crowd already tired of having to maneuver around groups of sweaty bodies and led Mai back upstairs. He found an empty spot in the kitchen and practically dragged her behind him.

“Why were you talking to Azula about me?”

“She asked, I just told her you’ve been a little off lately. It’s not like I could give her any details even if I wanted to because you haven’t been speaking to any of us lately.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve been weird but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell her anything about me even if she asks.”

“I was just trying to help, Zuko. She still cares about you, even if she has no idea how to show it.”

He scoffed, “You’ve got that right. She tried to convince me to move back in with my father. I’d like to know what kind of brain damage made her think I’d ever go back to living with them, let alone ever speak to him again. She told me that he would consider forgiving  _ me _ ! Like I did anything to deserve the way he treated me.”

“I think she’s just lonely and doesn’t want to admit that she misses you. She’s obviously got some issues of her own that she needs to work through, whether she sees it or not.”

Before he could reply, he spotted Katara across the kitchen and he couldn’t help but stare at her as he met her gaze. She looked equally happy and annoyed to see him, her stare going from warm to icy in the span of seconds. Refocusing, he turned back to Mai.

“I just can’t see how she can side with him like that. My mother suffers every day and he gets to just live his life normally like nothing ever happened. Like he didn’t ruin her life and mine. He treats Azula like a prize, and we just get tossed to the side. I can’t take it.”

“I know.” she says, uncharacteristically reaching up to place a hand on his shoulder. It was a warm gesture for Mai, a side of her he had almost forgotten about. “You should go talk to Katara.”

He snapped out of the trance, eyes wide, “What? Why?”

“She looks pissed and I’m guessing you did something dumb. Or maybe the other way around, I can’t tell.”

“Actually, she pissed me off this time. So I don’t exactly want to talk to her.”

“Suit yourself. I’m going to go find another corner to hang out in until Ty Lee is ready to leave. God forbid I leave her ass here with her stupid boyfriend.” she muttered, scanning the room for a place to escape to.

He smirked, “You almost sound jealous.”

She glared at him and he could tell he was right. “I’m not jealous, I’m irritated. There’s a difference.”

“But you’re always irritated.”

“Fuck off.” she said, her voice monotone, but the firm fist shoved into his bicep making it clear that she was joking. As she walked off, he caught Katara’s gaze again. Zuko made his way to her, slightly less annoyed.

“Hi.”

She frowned, looking a bit more spaced out than usual. Judging by the nearly empty red cup in her hand, she had definitely been drinking. Her tone carried a slurred but distinctive anger, “Oh, so you’ve decided that you can speak to me now?”

“I’m sorry for falling off the face of the earth. I just needed some space.”

“You could’ve told me that! I thought I ruined everything.”

He sighed, exasperated already. It wasn’t like she’d intentionally hurt him and he needed to remember that. “I know. I just- what you said to Toph freaked me out. I just needed time to process.”

“What did I say that freaked you out? I just told her the truth.”

“I know. I really don’t know how to explain without complicating everything and I really don’t want to do that right now.” He paused feeling an immediate urge to tell her everything he was bottling up. He settled for mentioning the call he’d gotten earlier, too overwhelmed to bear his heart to her. “Azula called me today.”

Her eyes softened, and he could see her anger subside just a bit so concern could wash over her face, “Shit. How did that go?”

“Definitely not our worst conversation, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant. She really picks the worst times to butt into my life again.”

“What did she want?”

He shrugged, “She wants me to apologize to my father. Which I will definitely not be doing, but I can’t figure out why. Without me, she’s the golden child. She gets whatever she wants.”

“Maybe she just wants you to be there with her. She can’t hate you that much, she’s your sister.” 

He shrugged again, still not feeling any better. She took a long sip of her drink, grimacing a bit.

“What are you drinking?”

She grimaced harder, “Sokka convinced me that jungle juice was a good idea. He may have made it a bit too strong though.”

He eyed the tub of red-orange liquid sitting on the counter. He wasn’t one to drink, especially when he was feeling upset, but he honestly felt like an escape might be the favorable way to go and he was out of bud. She watched him as he grabbed a cup, filling it awkwardly with the other one that floated on the top of the mix.

“I thought you didn’t drink?” Concern dripped from her voice, clear enough now that he could barely hear the slur in her words.

“I don’t, but a cup won’t kill me.” He took a long swig, wincing at the sharp taste of cheap, strong liquor and hawaiian punch. It definitely didn’t taste good, but he could feel the burn of the alcohol burning his throat and the warm buzz felt nice.

“Sokka put everclear in that so I’d definitely keep it to one cup. I’m pretty plastered already and I haven’t even finished mine.”

Great, so he’d gone from having had a beer or two in his entire adolescence to jumping straight into grain alcohol. He was seriously starting to doubt his judgement skills as of late. He took another deep sip anyway, not wanting to think about just how much he was letting himself down.

The crowd amassing in the kitchen made Zuko feel claustrophobic and with the added pressure of finally talking to her again only made it feel more overwhelming. “Look, is there anywhere that isn’t completely overrun by every person we went to high school with?”

She rolled her eyes, grabbing his arm. He followed her through the house, this time trying to avoid spilling his repulsive drink on anyone. The stairs were blocked off effectively by some strategically placed caution tape. She pulled it up, gesturing to him to step underneath it. Once they reached the top, she led him towards her room. He paused outside the door as she entered flopping down on her bed. He heard the noise of the party clearly as it drifted down the hallway and it felt almost inappropriate to be standing where he was.

“You gonna come in?”

“Uh, yeah.” he answered sheepishly, feeling a rush of dizziness take over him the second he started to move. He ignored it, instead centered his balance and sat next to her, taking another swig.

She looked at him expectantly, “Sooo…” she started, dragging out the word dramatically, “Are you going to tell me why you freaked out and ignored me for a week or am I s’posed to just act like nothing happened?”

“I- I don’t…” he trailed off trying desperately to keep a hold of the thoughts bombarding him. “I’m not sure how to say what I want to say.”

“By all means, take your time. S’not like you haven’t had all week to think about it.” 

All he wanted to do was drop it. He didn’t want to talk to her about his stupid feelings he wanted to ignore them. That was what the alcohol was for, repression. But he gathered his liquid courage and went for it, knowing if he didn’t say something he’d regret it. “I want to stop lying to everyone. All this sneaking around is killing me, it’s like you’re ashamed to be my friend! Either we tell everyone, or I’m done. I can’t keep pretending. Besides, if there’s so  _ obviously _ nothing romantic between us, there’s no reason we can’t be friends.”

“Zuko, I’m not ashamed of you! I just don’t want to tell them. We’ve been over this.”

“What else am I supposed to think when you won’t give me a solid reason?”

She stayed silent for a second, and he couldn’t read her. Panic set in as she started to speak, “I don’t… I don’t want to share you.”

“Katara, that’s not fair.”

“I know! I’m just… scared.” her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, “I don’t want to lose you as a friend. I keep thinking that if they know, the bubble is going to burst. At first it was because I didn’t want to be teased. I never expected that we’d get so close. I didn’t think it’d go this far.”

“Well, it has.” She said nothing, looking to the floor. Fuck it. He was just going to be honest. What more damage could he do that he hadn’t already?

“Katara, I like you. I really fucking like you.”

“Okay? I like you too? We’re friends, Zuko.” 

And now he knew exactly why he didn’t want to say anything. But despite the utter embarrassment he felt, the alcohol buzzing through him prompted him to keep going, “No, I  _ like _ you. Fuck, I almost tried to kiss you the other night! What’s not clicking?” 

He stood up unsteadily, pacing around her room, feeling more and more self conscious, but determined to speak his mind. “And hearing you tell Toph that you didn’t feel the same just... hurt. You rejected me before I even got the chance to tell you how I feel. And you knew I was there!”

She stood, arms crossed, in the same hostile position she’d always placed herself in when she was getting ready to rip his head off verbally.

“I- I didn’t mean to! I just wanted to get her off my back. And she kept accusing me of sleeping with you behind everyone’s backs and that wasn’t what was happening! Besides, I didn’t reject you if I lied to her. And I definitely didn’t reject you when I never said a single thing to  _ you _ about how I felt."

“You didn’t-” he stopped, processing what she said a few seconds too late, “What?”

“If Toph hadn’t barged into my room and started grilling me I would’ve kissed you back, you idiot!” To prove her point, she practically threw herself towards him, grabbing him by the face and pressing her mouth to his. He’d love to say that it was romantic, but if anything it was hasty and she pulled away sooner than he would’ve liked.

“See? I like you, too.” She huffed, staring him down. 

“I, uh, I can see that now.” He brushed a hand through his hair, trying to resist the blush creeping up her cheeks. Her burst of confidence had worn out and she was begging him to make his next move, inching ever so closer to him.

So he kissed her again, softer, and threw as much feeling as he could into it, hoping desperately that it would translate. She responded eagerly, reaching her arms around his neck. He wrapped himself around her holding her as they moved against each other.

He felt her hands trail down from his neck to his chest all the way to the hem of his shirt. Gripping it and easing the fabric upwards, she sighed into him. He lifted his arms from her waist, allowing her to remove it, breaking away from her for only as long as it took to get it past his head.

Her fingers trailed across the exposed skin as she backed him up to the bed. With his shaky balance and her’s not in the best shape, they both practically stumbled onto it, her landing in his lap. She straddled him, breaking the kiss once more to pull her own shirt off. 

Zuko wanted to touch the newly exposed area of her torso, one he’d seen hundreds of times lying out by the pool, but never before being able to feel it. Her bra strap hung limply off her shoulder and the image of it was enough to send his head spinning. She eased it up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his distracted gaze on her chest.

“Is this okay?” She asked breathily, placing her palm on his chest, just below his heart.

He nodded vehemently, his fingernails unconsciously digging into his palms as he longed to touch her, too.

She grabbed both hands, sensing his hesitancy, and placed them over her bra. Letting him know it was okay. And then she kissed him and he lost any sense of restraint he’d had previously. Her skin was unbelievably soft and she smelled like fresh rain. She was perfect. And though he was slightly overwhelmed, Zuko had no intention of stopping. 

She liked him, and she wanted him. And he wanted her back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So I went slightly off plan again, but I am happy with how this one turned out. I was going to go full smut with this, but as I got to writing it further, it really didn’t fit with the tone of the story so far. I did save the parts that I cut, though, so maybe I’ll do a one-shot with the full scene at some point if anyone would want to read it! I should be able to get another chapter out by Thursday because I’m done with finals and I’ve got a few days off of work for once. Thanks for reading again! See y’all next time :)


	7. The Jerk

**The Jerk**

_ “I wanna see what's going on _

_ Over your shoulder but it all goes wrong _

_ Don't say goodbye say you're not sure _

_ Anything could ever come between the two of us _

_ I would say the same thing” _

He woke to a hand shaking him by the shoulder frantically, a hushed but intense voice whispering, “Zuko! Get up.”

He opened his eyes hesitantly, the lack of sun pouring into the room confusing him. Katara knelt next to him on the bed, eyes wide and wearing just her underwear. He noticed then that he had very little on as well. Pulling the sheet up to cover his torso, he squinted at her. “What? What’s happening?”

“You can’t stay.”

“W-why?” He sat up, still holding the blanket tightly, trying not to stare at her lack of clothes.

“This was a mistake. I’m sorry, we can talk later but you gotta get out of here.”

He sat up fully, “Katara, I thought we were done sneaking around.”

“When did I say that?”

His eyes narrowed in confusion, “Last night, you agreed that we should tell everyone. Then we slept together.”

“Shit. Did I?”

“Do you not remember?”

“I remember the… sex. Just not much of the talking.”

“Katara!”

She shushed him, slumping back into the bed.

“No, look I gave you an ultimatum and if you want to go back on it now, I’m done.” He stood, choosing to ignore the fact that he was ass naked and searched the room for his discarded boxers.

She shot up as well, grabbing his arm, “Please don’t go. We can tell them, I don’t care. Just don’t leave.” Her eyes were pleading with him and he knew that there was no way he could deny her a thing. 

“Fine. So, what are we going to tell them? Are we together now?” He found the boxers, slipping them on and rejoining her on the bed.

“Maybe we can start slow, just be honest about being friends for now… and ease into it? Maybe we shouldn’t be formally dating right now. Just seeing each other?”

“Is that not the same thing?”

She pondered it, “I don’t know, maybe? Anyway, nothing’s really been set in stone. We may have rushed into… certain things last night anyway. Maybe we should take it easy? Go on a few dates first?”

“Yeah, that makes sense. There’s no rush, really.” 

“Right, no rush.”

“Do you regret it? Sleeping with me, I mean.” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“No. It was…” She paused, “Surprisingly amazing.”

_ What the hell did that mean? _ “Really? Why surprising?”

“At the start of the summer I never thought I’d be having sex with you. No offense.”

He shrugged, that made a lot more sense. He didn’t exactly picture himself ending up this way either. “None taken. And if we decide to… formally date, we can tell them?”

She nodded and he felt another huge weight come off his shoulders. At least he wasn’t getting shoved out of a window again.

“So no more sneaking around? We can just be ourselves?”

“Yes, Zuko.”

For once things were going his way and all it took was being honest. With himself and with her. And now they could be honest with their friends.

“I am worried about how Aang will react though. He’s still really broken up about how everything ended. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“I think he’ll be okay.”

“What about Mai?”

“What about her?”

“I saw you guys talking last night. Won’t she be upset too if we start dating?”

He shook his head, “No, we’ve been on good terms for a while now. I was just talking to her about Azula.”

Her eyes went wide, “Shit, you’re right. I completely forgot she called you. Was that why you were drinking last night?”

“Kind of, It was a little bit of everything to be honest. I was nervous about talking to you and the whole Azula thing just messed with my head.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t believe she’d just call you out of nowhere to mess with you like that. Do you wanna talk about it?” She rested her hand over his gently and he took the opportunity to wrap their fingers together.

“If there’s anything she’s good at, it's messing with me. It’s fine, though. You’re good at keeping my mind off of my extensive and annoying family issues.” He joked, squeezing her hand in his.

She smiled, “Glad I can be of service.” She leaned in to kiss him lightly, and he sighed into her. He’d never felt this way about anyone.

When she pulled away, he decided to test the waters, “So, do I have to sneak out the window again or can we go back to sleep?”

“You can stay for now. No guarantees for the morning, though.” she teased.

He laid back, holding his arm out so she could settle into him. She followed his lead, snuggling into his chest. He pulled her tighter, not wanting to let her out of his grasp.

Things felt right.

\---

He woke when the sun rose, and while he didn’t want to disturb Katara, who was still very much curled into his side and still wearing very little clothing, he gently nudged her far enough off of him so he could get up. Unfortunately, he wasn’t gentle enough and she started to stir as he searched around the room for the rest of his clothing.

“G’morning.” she muttered sleepily as she watched him.

“Hey. I figured I’d go downstairs and pretend to crash somewhere while everyone’s still asleep so we could tell everyone in the morning and not look suspicious. You can go back to sleep.”

She nodded, rubbing at her eyes, “That makes sense. I wish you could stay, though.”

“And why is that?” he teased, slipping his t-shirt over his head.

She smirked, “You’re a fantastic cuddler, Zuko. Why else?”

He tugged his jeans on, moving to her side of the bed as he buttoned them, “We’ll just have to do some more cuddling later, then. I’ll see you in a couple hours?”

She nodded, eyes still heavy. He leaned down to kiss her on the forehead before leaving.

Luckily, the hallway was empty and he could tell by the loud snores coming from Sokka’s room that he was dead asleep. More likely than not, Suki was too. He crept down the stairs as quietly as he could, making sure not to step on any creaky spots, scanning what he could see past the stairs before walking past them. 

In the living room, Toph took up more of the couch than someone her height probably should, Aang was curled up in a ball in the corner. Everyone was dead asleep. He silently thanked Sokka for killing everyone with the jungle juice - himself included - because it pretty much guaranteed that no one would remember that he hadn’t fallen asleep with them.

Zuko took the opportunity to scope out the basement knowing that everyone else had to have crashed on the pullout down there if they ended up staying. He turned out to be right, seeing Mai and Ty Lee sharing the pullout and Haru drooling on the recliner. That was certainly interesting, but he figured he’d let it be and went back upstairs. 

He considered finding a nice corner to lay down in, but he was already awake and he knew everyone had to have a massive hangover looming. So, he decided to get started on coffee and breakfast. Before that, though, Zuko desperately wanted to smoke. He knew where Sokka kept his stash and knew that his friend wouldn’t mind if he took enough for a bowl pack. He’d save enough to let him get a few hits in when he woke up.

The sliding door to the pool creaked a bit when he slid it open, but luckily it didn’t disturb anyone. He sat at the patio table, and packed his friend’s bong which had clearly been left out there overnight.

Zuko had just taken a hit when the door slid open and Suki walked outside.

“Hey, didn’t know you stayed last night.” She said, groggily, taking the seat next to him.

“Yeah, I uh, crashed in the basement.”

“No you didn’t.” She said nonchalantly, grabbing the bong from him, taking her own hit.

“Yes I did.” he quipped back, eyes wide.

She exhaled, giving him a pointed look paired with a smirk, “Nope.”

“What makes you think I didn’t?”

“Zuko, you think I didn’t see you and Katara go upstairs last night and never come back? And the… noises I heard were a bit suspicious, too.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, I really thought that with the party being so loud...” he took the bong back and took another hit. Of course Suki knew. He was an idiot.

“For what it’s worth, I’ve suspected for a while now. And I definitely saw you sneaking down the drainpipe last week when we came home. Your stealth skills, while decent, could use some work.”

“Great. I’d say I’d keep that in mind, but Katara and I were planning on coming clean today.”

Suki smiled warmly, “That’s awesome. So you guys are like official or whatever?” She took a hit.

“Not exactly. It’s uh, complicated?”

She exhaled, coughing a bit. “So you guys have been fucking but you’re not together?”

“We’ve just been friends up until last night. There wasn’t any… um, fucking before that.” He felt like an idiot.

“Oh, okay. But you still aren’t together?”

“No. Uh, we kind of want to just take it slow for now.”

She raised a brow, “Okay. That’s a little backwards, but it makes sense. So what are you coming clean about, then?”

She handed him the bong back, but he left it on the table, wanting to leave the rest for Sokka. He sighed, “About being friends. So, for Katara’s sake and mine I guess, just act shocked later. I don’t want to be on her bad side ever again.”

“Understandable. If you guys were just friends, though why were you hiding it?”

“You know, I still don’t really understand, but it was mostly Katara. She didn’t want everyone to tease her and I think she was worried about Aang’s feelings.”

“Interesting. Well, congrats on the sex.” She nudged his shoulder, rolling her eyes.

He laughed, “Thanks. I’m probably gonna get started on making some coffee. You wanna help with the breakfast part?”

“Sure.”

\---

The rest of the group woke up in waves. Mai was the first to emerge from the basement, offering to cook the bacon. Aang was next, and found an apple to munch on, watching the rest of them cook. Sokka was next, rubbing his head and demanding to get a cup of coffee as soon as possible. Ty Lee and Haru eventually emerged from the basement, Ty Lee unnecessarily chipper for how early it still was. And Toph followed soon after, unable to sleep through the chatter. Katara was the only one not awake.

Suki offered to get her, as if she could sense that Zuko desperately wanted to do it himself. Breakfast was ready and the lot of them dug into the hangover remedy they all sorely needed. Sokka, hoarding the bacon, spoke first, “I am never going near everclear again for the rest of my life. That stuff is the devil.”

Toph rolled her eyes, “Can’t blame anyone but yourself for that one, Snoozles.”

“Yeah, whatever, I’ve learned my lesson.”

Suki and Katara rounded the corner, Katara wrapped up in one of her blankets and fully dressed now. She took the seat next to Zuko and without sparing him a glance, started eating. The rest of them chattered on, not acknowledging her further than a nod of the head.

He nudged her as subtly as he could and she stared at him confusion in her expression. “What?” she mouthed at him, taking a bite of some scrambled eggs.

He gave her a look, and she seemed to understand, “Oh, me and Zuko need to tell you guys something.”

Toph lit up dropping her fork dramatically, “You guys have been screwing each other?”

Katara’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head and she stayed absolutely silent so he spoke up, “Um, we’ve just been hanging out. We’re um, actually friends now. So, no more fighting and being annoying.”

“That’s it? I think we all knew you were sneaking around.” Mai said in her typical monotone.

“Yeah, I think it was pretty obvious. We were just letting you guys do your thing.” Ty Lee added, upbeat as usual.

“You guys knew?” Katara asked incredulously.

Suki chimed in this time, a knowing smirk on her face, “Yeah. You’ve both been super weird since we locked you in the basement and we’ve all barely seen you. It isn’t too hard to put two and two together.

Sokka stood up suddenly, “Wait, what? Did everyone know but me?”

“I didn’t know either, but I can’t say I’m shocked.” Aang said, looking a bit disappointed but not seriously upset, which he saw as a relief.

“I only knew because Ty Lee told me, but yeah, not very shocking at all. You guys have both been seriously strange all summer.” Haru said through a mouthful of eggs.

Katara seemed horrified, but he knew it wasn’t that bad. If anything, he’d technically told Toph weeks ago, and the rest had simply figured it out on their own. 

“Okay, well now that that’s over with…” he muttered, digging into his own breakfast. He reached for Katara’s hand under the table with his free hand, intertwining their fingers. She let him, looking at him bewildered. He shrugged, continuing to eat. “Oh, Sokka I packed a bowl for you on the patio if you want it. Me and Suki smoked half of it, but there’s still some left.”

“So you’ve been secretly hanging out with my sister and smoking my weed?”

“Well, it’s payback for smoking my stuff while you locked me in the basement with said sister. I was at least nice enough to not only share with your girlfriend but leave you some of it, too.”

“Yeah, okay fine. You’re not wrong.” Sokka mumbled, gnawing on a piece of bacon.

\---

Zuko felt like a new person when he arrived home later that morning. He had plans to go to the tea shop with Katara later as their first “official” date, and afterwards they were meeting up with the rest of the gang to help clean up the disaster zone the house had been left in after the party.

He had a few hours to chill and psych himself up and he was finally feeling relaxed. He and Katara may not be together officially, but at least he knew that he wasn’t alone in his feelings. 

That really made all the difference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap I really went off my outline last time. So this chapter is a lot shorter because of it, but I didn’t want to get into what I had planned for the next one so I cut it off a bit early. Anyway, they finally told everyone! Yay lol. Still more conflict to come, though, I’m not letting everything stay all sunshine and rainbows for long. Thanks again to everyone who has commented and left kudos! I’m almost at the same amount of hits on this story as I am for Lose This Number and that is so awesome! I really appreciate all of you for sticking around or even if you’ve just recently started reading. I’m both sad to be finishing this soon, and excited to move onto the next story :) Look me up on tumblr @bagelbitch666 if you want more writing updates and general zutara content! I’m looking forward to hopefully getting the next chapter out over the weekend if I’ve got time.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kinda nervous about this one not gonna lie! I have everything planned out so I plan on trying to update every week. I hope you guys like it! Leave a comment :)


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